The City of St. Catharines, Ont., has issued a “repair, replace or demolish” order to owners of a long-abandoned and contaminated site that used to be two auto parts manufacturing plants once run by General Motors.
The order, issued this month, comes after the city inspected the site following recent complaints from residents of “doors being propped open” at the West Plant at 285 Ontario St., as well as a gate open at the East Plant at 282 Ontario St., St. Catharines Mayor Mat Siscoe told CBC Niagara in an email.
“For over a decade a great deal of time, energy and money has been invested in this site by everyone involved,” Siscoe said in a statement to CBC News.
“While the orders issued today will not resolve the issues that have prevented redevelopment to date, I hope they will serve as the starting point for a constructive path forward,” he added.
If the owners fail to comply with the order, city officials can issue monetary penalties or prosecute under the Provincial Offences Act, bylaw enforcement manager Paul Chudoba said.
The city’s cleanup order comes as St. Catharines MPP Jennie Stevens is also set to raise the issue at Queen’s Park Wednesday during Question Period.
Stevens says she has been receiving calls from concerned citizen groups and environmental advocates pushing for cleanup of the 22-hectare site, which is about the size of 41 football fields, for the last 15 years.
She says she will be introducing a motion under the Environmental Protection Act that, if passed, would direct that owners of the site repair and prevent damage caused by contaminants.
The motion would also call on the owners, or parties responsible for the site, to monitor and record contaminants and report back to the ministry with a plan to reduce them.
Environmental assessments of the site conducted in 2010 and 2012, which CBC News obtained through freedom of information requests, list contaminants in the soil and groundwater.
Those include carcinogenic metals and chemicals that exceed Ontario’s regulatory standards used for safe redevelopment of industrial sites before they can become residential developments.
General Motors ceased production at the two plants in December of 2010, and subsequently sold the site to BayShore Groups in 2014 for $12.5 million. The company planned to turn the 22-hectare site into a retirement community with hiking and bike trails along Twelve Mile Creek, alongside a trade school and more, according to a press release published on its website in 2018.
While Ontario land registry documents show a BayShore subsidiary as the current owner of the land, Siscoe told CBC Niagara the group has “no involvement with the site at this time.”
Stevens, an NDP MPP for St. Catharines, says she also believes that BayShore has walked away from the project.
BayShore did not respond to a request for comment from CBC News.
Though both city and provincial officials believe BayShore has abandoned the project, the city’s cleanup order was still sent to the BayShore subsidiary that is listed as the current owner of the site.
When asked why the city would issue an order to a group that officials believe is no longer involved, Chudoba, the city’s by-law enforcement manager, said “that’s who we recognize as the property owner at this point.”
Meanwhile, a Halton-based wealth management firm, Celernus Investment Partners Inc., says it has stepped in as the mortgage holder for the Ontario Street property, and is actively managing and overseeing the site.
In an email to CBC Niagara, Celernus founder Gord Martin said the company has taken steps to ensure the site’s security for the last several years, including the deployment of “property patrols multiple times per day,” maintaining the fence and fates and “ongoing property cleanup.”
“We continue to work collaboratively with the City of St. Catharines and the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks, ensuring full access for all required environment monitoring and reporting,” said Martin.
