St. Catharines council motion on former GM site devoid of any action to clean up property

Last Monday, the topic of the contaminated General Motors site made its way to St. Catharines City Hall.

Nearly a year after reports revealed disturbing levels of contamination on the site, repeated demands from community members impacted by the rotting industrial property, and the recent discovery by The Pointer that a critical filtration system meant to prevent toxins from flowing off the property has been shut down, St. Catharines City Council finally chose to address the issue. 

Council adopted a motion requesting information from the provincial environment ministry, to obtain responses provided to local NDP MPPs Jennie Stevens (St. Catharines) and Jeff Burch (Niagara Centre). They both wrote to the ministry following reports that the company responsible for installing the filtration system on the site had placed a $1.75 million lien on the property, due to non-payment by the owner, and walked off the job. 

Instead of ensuring transparency and tangible actions to clean up many of the problems, which council members have the authority to initiate, the motion fails to respond to the demands of residents.

Council’s debate produced no concrete action to improve the site, raised new questions about conflicts of interest, and ultimately illustrated the apathy toward the polluted property local elected officials, led by Mayor Mat Siscoe, have shown for years.

The 55-acre former General Motors site on Ontario Street has long been identified as contaminated with a range of toxic substances, including trichloroethylene (TCE), benzene, heavy metals, and PCBs. The Pointer has reported that environmental site assessments found contamination levels in both soil and groundwater ranging from ten to more than one thousand times the allowable limits established by the provincial government. 

Since General Motors sold the site in 2010, it has remained a source of frustration and public concern, as successive councils have failed to meaningfully address the ongoing environmental hazards and the visual blight just a few blocks from the city’s downtown district.

The derelict industrial parcel has become both an environmental and political burden that sits in the middle of a residential neighborhood. Successive councils have promised to clean up the property.

The Pointer reported details revealed in a series of FOI documents that showed how former mayor Walter Sendzik worked behind the scenes with the developer tied to the site to get the property zoned for residential construction, while the public was being assured by the City that health and safety measures were being followed. 

A 2015 photograph of Sendzik sport‑fishing in the Caribbean with the original developer, Robert Megna, raised concerns over their connection and preferential treatment the mayor gave him. Siscoe, along with ward Councillors Caleb Ratzlaff and Robin McPherson, were all elected in 2022 after promising to finally clean up the former GM lands. Three years later, those promises remain unfulfilled.

St. Catharines mayor Walter Sendzik (left) is pictured fishing in the Caribbean in 2015 with developer Robert Megna, who had purchased the contaminated property a year earlier.

(Facebook)

Under their tenure the City has fought the release of environmental test data for years, citing concern for General Motors’ corporate reputation as a reason for withholding documents from public disclosure. 

Last Monday’s motion followed reporting by The Pointer last month that revealed a filtration system installed less than two years ago to protect residents and the surrounding environment from toxins, was not operational.  The company responsible for installing and maintaining it had filed a $1.75 million lien on the property for non‑payment. Provincial MPP’s were quick to react, prompting council members to finally take action to find out how the provincial government plans to deal with the property.

Last Monday’s motion, authored and initially moved by Councillor Ratzlaff, acknowledged that demolition work at the former GM site had slowed and that the demolition permit had expired. It called on the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks to provide the City with updates on environmental monitoring and cleanup efforts. It referenced the work of MPP Stevens, effectively endorsing her efforts and requesting that the ministry forward to the City any correspondence or materials provided to her regarding plans to address problems on the site.

The motion does not ask for new environmental testing, enforcement of public-health safeguards, remediation by the property owner, or utilize municipal powers to enforce property standards on the site. 

Ratzlaff’s motion contrasts sharply with his 2022 campaign promises.

“Unfortunately, we can’t change what’s happened in the past, but what I can do is promise to work as hard as I can to make sure this site is cleaned up and developed as soon as possible. We can’t afford to wait,” he said in a campaign video. “I promise to use every tool at the City’s disposal to move forward on the GM site.”

Three years into his term, the area councillor has failed to trigger a clean up of the property.

The contaminated industrial site, previously home to General Motors, poses a number of health and safety risks that have gone unaddressed by local officials.

(Joel Wittnebel/The Pointer files)

Ratzlaff’s motion raises questions about transparency and compliance with provincial conflict of interest laws—he works in the office of MPP Stevens, and on October 27, Ratzlaff posted the following on his Facebook page:

“Thank you MPP Stevens for writing to the Ministry, calling for an update on the cleanup and oversight of the former GM site. I’m hoping [to] be bringing a motion to City Council next week asking the City to do the same…”

The post was later removed.

When council convened the following Monday, the motion did not appear on the published agenda. At the start of the meeting, Mayor Siscoe introduced it as Councillor Ratzlaff’s motion, and a procedural vote was held to add it to the agenda, passing unanimously.

Siscoe subsequently brought the motion forward for debate, with Ratzlaff as the mover. The mayor directed that the motion be displayed on the screen and asked for “two or three minutes to let everybody read this”, a remark suggesting councillors were seeing the motion for the first time, given its absence from the agenda.

After the pause to allow members to review the text, a question was raised by a fellow councillor about potential “legal concerns”, prompting council to move into a closed (in camera) session to discuss the matter privately.

Roughly twenty minutes later, council members returned to open session. Almost immediately, both Ratzlaff and Councillor Jackie Lindal — the sister of MPP Stevens— declared conflicts of interest and withdrew from any further involvement with the motion.  

The mayor had Ratzlaff’s name removed as the mover of the motion and replaced it with Councillor Robin McPherson.

In declaring their conflicts, neither Ratzlaff nor Lindal provided the required public explanation detailing the nature of their conflicts, as mandated under the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act (MCIA). Mayor Siscoe, presiding over the meeting, failed to enforce this legal requirement, allowing both declarations to pass without the explanation the legislation demands. The Act also stipulates that any declaration of conflict, along with the stated reason, must be recorded in the meeting minutes and entered into a publicly accessible registry.

By the time the pair declared their conflicts, the motion had already been introduced, debated, and shaped with Ratzlaff’s participation, an involvement that appears inconsistent with the intent of the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act (MCIA), which prohibits members from taking part at any stage — before, during, or after — in matters where a conflict exists.

Although both councillors ultimately recused themselves from the final vote, their withdrawals came too late in the process and were not executed in full compliance with the Act’s procedural requirements. As a result, Councillor Ratzlaff’s prior involvement may leave him vulnerable to potential contraventions under the MCIA if a complaint is filed.

The open hatch suggests the filtration system, meant to ensure toxic chemicals do not flow beyond the property line of the former General Motors site, is offline.

(Submitted)

City officials, led most vocally by Mayor Siscoe, have often claimed that responsibility to clean up the property lies with the Province and the property owner. He has refused to acknowledge the legal authority the City has under its Property Standards Bylaw, the Building Code Act, and the Municipal Act to compel action on derelict properties, an issue that officials have been unwilling to openly discuss.

In addition to lobbying Queen’s Park to act, the city could:

• Order the completion of demolition to remove unstable structures and debris.
• Require the surface to be rendered safe, through grading, capping, or containment to prevent dust and runoff.
• Remove visual blight, which has long affected neighborhood quality of life.

If the property owners fail to comply, the City has the legal authority to undertake the work itself and recover costs through a tax lien on the property, a standard practice used successfully in St Catharines and other municipalities in Ontario.

These measures would not address deep chemical contamination issues, but they would allow the City to protect residents from a range of potential risks posed by the sprawling derelict industrial complex.

Beyond the physical dangers, the known contaminants on the former GM property have well-documented health implications. 

For years area residents have questioned if children can play safely outdoors, whether their drinking water remains free from possible contamination, and when the crumbling structures will be cleaned up.

Correspondence and documents from the City have revealed that officials were, at times, more concerned about GM’s “corporate reputation” than transparent communication with the public.

Residents and environmental advocates have suggested a range of steps the City could take:

1. Independent soil testing around the site and along residential boundaries.
2. Clear, public timelines for demolition, remediation, and long-term monitoring.
3. Regular public meetings with expert briefings on health risks and mitigation measures.
4. Enforcement of property standards, with cost recovery through a tax lien if owners fail to comply.

Councillor Ratzlaff did not respond to a request for comment ahead of publication.

Email: [email protected]

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