City, province knew for weeks that a system to filter harmful toxins was disconnected but left public in the dark, FOI reveals

On October 28, officials at the City of St. Catharines knew the filtration system designed to prevent highly toxic chemicals from leaching into the former GM property on Ontario Street and the surrounding area was no longer functional, but for weeks they have failed to tell the public.

A freedom of information request by The Pointer has revealed an alarming lack of disclosure by the City and the provincial government. 

Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) staff informed the City that the system has not been operating, but have failed to make any public announcement. It was staff at the environment ministry who initially ordered the property owner of the giant 55-acre piece of former industrial land right next to the downtown district, to install the filtration system after cancer-causing PCBs were found to be leaking from the former GM site, while other dangerous toxins had been detected on the property at levels as high as 1,000 times above allowable limits the last time an environmental assessment was done more than a decade ago.

An email obtained by The Pointer sent by Kim Groombridge, Manager in the Niagara District Office of the MECP’s Drinking Water & Environmental Compliance Division, to Tami Kitay, the Director of Planning and Building Services for the City of St. Catharines on October 28th, shows conversations between Kitay and Groombridge about the filtration system had taken place previously. 

Groombridge thanks Kitay for reaching out about the required filtration at the former GM site, then wrote: 

“The ministry is aware that storm water is currently being collected and stored on-site but is not being treated and discharged. The matter has been referred for investigation and therefore it would be inappropriate to comment further.”

Details of any ongoing investigation have not been made public. 

The City has not updated residents with information officials have known for six weeks, regarding the shutdown of the filtration system.

The email sent to Tami Kitay, the Director of Planning and Building Services on October 28th informing her that the filtration system designed to prevent toxic chemicals from leaving the former GM property was not in operation.

The email confirms what The Pointer first reported more than two months ago. On October 1st an article detailed that along with the City revoking demolition permits for the property, the filtration system appeared to be offline. The Pointer reported that a $1.75 million lien was placed on February 2 by the company hired to set-up and operate the filtration system against the property owner, after payments were not received, triggering concern that the filtration of toxic substances was no longer being carried out.

The information detailing the lien was publicly available, but City and ministry officials made no effort to inform residents about the concerning development. 

Eventually, the demolition permits issued to the property owner, Hamilton-based developer Movengo Corp, by the City were revoked in April.

The public were only made aware of the unfolding events when The Pointer obtained court documents and visited the site, raising questions about the state of the filtration system. 

At no point during the reporting did City or environment ministry officials inform The Pointer that the filtration system was not operating, despite questions that were sent after the October 28 email, which shows they knew it had been disconnected.

Disconnected pipes on the filtration system at the former General Motors property.

(Submitted) 

Despite repeated inquiries, follow-ups and requests for information, the ministry remained silent, refusing to clarify the status of a system it mandated two years ago. 

Speculation about the status of the critical filtration system links back to the company hired to install it: Peters Environmental. Property records and court documents show the property is mired in court proceedings and liens placed by Peters as a result of nonpayment. 

In a stunning acknowledgement, on October 17, City officials admitted to The Pointer that they had no idea if the system was operational. 

Over a four-week period beginning in late September, The Pointer made repeated attempts to determine the status of the filtration system. The inquiries focused on whether the environment ministry was aware the system was not functioning, if any testing or monitoring had been conducted, and, if so, what the results had shown.

Ministry officials did not answer.  

A visit to the site on October 23 appeared to confirm that the system was completely offline, and not filtering stormwater collected on the property that could contain PCBs and other harmful chemicals. 

Following The Pointer’s reporting, two area NDP MPPs, Jeff Burch and Jennie Stevens, sent letters to the ministry seeking answers. Minister Todd McCarthy responded, but his letter was vague, failing to address the specific questions The Pointer had raised. He concluded: “The ministry is aware that untreated storm water is being collected and stored on-site. This matter has been referred to the ministry’s Enforcement and Investigation Branch for potential investigation.”

Despite his ministry staff knowing by no later than October 28 that the filtration system was not operating, McCarthy failed to disclose this in his November 3 letters to Burch and Stevens, the two Niagara NDP MPPs who specifically asked the minister if the system was operating.

The statement only refers to a “potential” investigation, offering no timeline, test results or assurances regarding the filtration system’s operation. Elected officials and residents were left without answers.

Subsequent freedom of information requests by The Pointer have now confirmed that an official investigation is underway.

The Pointer requested all inspection reports and field notes from site visits at the former GM site over the past year. On December 4, the ministry denied the request, but cited the need to: “preserve the integrity of the current ongoing investigation and the impartiality of any Court proceeding should the matter go to court.”

The partially demolished structures on the former General Motors property pose a number of dangers to members of the public. Despite fencing around the land, it is still easily accessible.

(Joel Wittnebel/The Pointer files)

For residents near the former GM site, the stakes are significant. The filtration system was designed to prevent potentially contaminated water from leaving the site and entering the environment or private properties. Despite clear evidence that the system was not functioning, public updates have been ignored.

Since the 55-acre property was sold by GM to private developers in 2014 there have been a number of promises to clean up the old industrial site and transform it into a thriving urban neighbourhood. 

In April of last year St. Catharines council members received a report from staff that outlined the latest setback in the cleanup efforts at the former industrial site, “due to matters beyond staff control”. 

Critical environmental assessments that were supposed to be done under the work led by Movengo, which sought to  develop the contaminated property for residential housing, would not be done at the time because the developer had decided to stop work indefinitely on the “most significant and potentially impactful” studies. 

“The land owners group is not yet prepared to bear the costs of undertaking these studies at this time,” the staff report revealed. 

Staff also revealed that Movengo blamed a “challenged” development market since the COVID-19 pandemic, and “conditions over time related to Federal and Provincial policy changes” for the halt in work. 

“Staff are reluctant to proceed with community visioning and the establishment of land use alternatives prior to completion of the technical studies as it is imperative that any outcomes are grounded in the reality of the site’s known constraints,” last year’s report emphasized. “They have advised that they remain committed to completing the necessary background studies, but to-date have not provided anticipated timing.”

Kim Groombridge, the ministry staffer who wrote the October 28 email to Tami Kitay, informing the City of St. Catharines that the filtration system is not operational, repeated language the ministry has used for more than three years, reassuring officials and the public that “PCBs were no longer a concern in the storm sewer”. 

She failed to mention that ministry staff and experts who have dealt with contamination on industrial sites have made it clear that without proper site testing, an extensive environmental assessment and other monitoring in specific places, not just the storm sewers, which are not even on the property, the current extent of PCBs that have previously been detected cannot be known.

Such toxic compounds and many other highly dangerous chemicals (which have been detected on the property) are known to exist for decades in and around former industrial sites. This is the reason the ministry ordered the now disconnected filtration system in the first place. 

As concern among residents mounts about the public health dangers created by the lack of filtration on the contaminated site, prompting council to recently finally address the issue (without taking any action), The Pointer reached out to the ministry about the situation. No response was received.

City of St. Catharines staff provided the following response: “As directed by Council, information from the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MOECP) regarding the filtration system and the work to stop discharge of PCBs has been posted on the City’s website.

Any questions about the ongoing investigation - or interpretation of such - should be directed to the MOECP as the lead authority.

The City looks forward to learning more information as the investigation progresses and to receiving any further updates from the MOECP regarding the property and ongoing monitoring efforts. We remain committed to keeping the community informed and will continue to share updates on our website.”

There is no updated information on the website about the disconnected filtration system, which the City has known about for at least six weeks.

Email: ed.smith@thepointer.com

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