City of Calgary currently has no plans to remediate creosote in downtown west end
Concerns over the toxic chemical resurfaced this week as council approved the rezoning of a site on the north side of the Bow River where traces of the chemical were found, despite concerns from residents over the developer's environmental contingency plans approved by Alberta Environment.
Creosote was found in the bedrock, seven metres below the site along Westmount Boulevard N.W.
However, the creosote contamination stems from the south side of the Bow River, where a wood treatment plant operated west of the city's downtown core between 1924 and 1962.
The plant used creosote, a toxic mixture of about 200 chemicals, to preserve wood products such as railway ties and power poles.
Story continues below advertisement
Over time, the chemicals migrated into and under the Bow River and crossed under the communities on the north side of the Bow River.
'When the plant was operating, there wasn't a containment site and this is probably the period where most of the migration of the creosote materials occurred,' said Frank Frigo with the City of Calgary's environmental management department.
A containment wall and groundwater collection system was installed on the south bank of the Bow River in 1995 by the City of Calgary and the provincial government. The city has been operating the containment system since 1997 and monitoring has been ongoing since 2004.
View image in full screen
The groundwater collection system installed at the site west of Calgary's downtown in 1995. Global News
According to a recent five-year monitoring program from the province, there are no concerns to human health when compared to human health guidelines.
Story continues below advertisement
'Things have gotten better but the long-term fate of that site isn't clear yet,' Frigo said.
Get daily National news
Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up
By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy
City officials confirmed there are currently no plans to remediate the site on the west end of the downtown core.
The City of Calgary purchased the land for $37 million back in 2009, which now sits mostly vacant with the closure of the Greyhound bus station and one of the two auto dealers in the area.
'The city is growing so we need to look at all options that we have,' said Calgary mayor Jyoti Gondek. 'It's something I believe we should be looking at but there's no updates right now.'
It's been several years since remediating the site was last discussed, when Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation pitched its CalgaryNEXT arena project on the west side of downtown in 2016.
However, that project was quashed due in part to estimated costs including up to $300 million to clean up the creosote from the site.
View image in full screen
A rendering of Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation's CalgaryNEXT proposal. Credit: Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation
According to Frigo, provincial legislation mandates the 'original polluter' is responsible for remediating the site, and redevelopment could be challenging without a full cleanup of the area.
Story continues below advertisement
A provincial study from 2020 found potential vapour impacts and groundwater contaminants closer to the topsoil on the south side of the river.
'If eventual redevelopment occurs, there will have to be some thought process around how the soils can be re-used, if at all, or if they'll need to be removed from the site to enable development,' Frigo said.
Redeveloping the west end could still be many years away, according to Ward 9 Coun. Gian-Carlo Carra, due to competing priorities.
'I think right now it's 30 years out,' Carra said. 'But if the city continues to grow at the pace that it's growing, that 30 years might become 15 years.'
Carra said the city may need need to use a Community Revitalization Levy (CRL) to spur redevelopment in the area, a financial mechanism the city can employ to borrow funds against future property tax revenues to help pay for infrastructure development.
The City of Calgary currently uses a CRL for the East Village and the Rivers District which was extended through 2048.
'You have a chance that you're cannibalizing and the growth that's going into the first one is split, and then you never get paid back for either,' Carra said. 'The conventional wisdom is you don't start on the west village until you've fully paid back the CRL on the East Village and arts and entertainment districts.'
Story continues below advertisement
This means it could be nearly 100 years after the site closed for the creosote it left behind to get cleaned up.
According to a spokesperson for the Ministry of Environment and Protected Areas, the province continues to work with the City of Calgary 'to ensure any potential risks on the south side of the Bow River are managed.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Global News
3 hours ago
- Global News
Nova Scotia gardeners, homeowners endure Japanese beetle infestations
There's something bugging homeowners and gardeners across Nova Scotia this month, and it's not ticks. The Japanese beetle population has grown in recent years – decimating flowers and foliage all over Canada. Joanne Fancy says the pests have surrounded her Halifax-area property and are preying on her willow, maple and birch trees, as well as bordering vegetation. She's spent some $1,200 trying to get rid of them, including the use of professional extermination services. 'I'm not going to say kill, but they destroy the look of the landscaping. It's disheartening,' she said of the invasive beetles. View image in full screen A pair of Japanese beetles skeletonize a raspberry leaf, with many other leaves already damaged. Sharon Pfeifer / Global News Fancy isn't alone. Experts have been swarmed with questions from concerned landowners across the province. Story continues below advertisement 'This time of year, my phone is ringing off the hook. Every year it seems to be worse and worse,' said Paul Manning, an environmental sciences professor at Dalhousie University. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Many people have turned to Japanese Beetle traps. But local gardening expert, Niki Jabbour, says they have to be used properly or they could just add to the pest problems. 'Anybody who's got a trap in their yard will tell you it's full of Japanese beetles. But only about, you know, 75 per cent of the beetles will go in it,' she said. 'So you'll be attracting more beetles to your yard, but not trapping all of them.' 1:55 Vancouver takes on destructive Japanese Beetle If you do plan on using a trap, she recommends placing it as far away from your garden as possible. Story continues below advertisement 'The problem with these buckets or traps is that beetles are relatively clumsy fliers. So they can be attracted from a long way in, based on the smell,' added Manning. 'They can fly in, hit the bucket and then bounce out and end up feeding on something totally different.' Manning and Jabbour both say there's no need to shell out on expensive solutions. 'Something that doesn't involve buying anything that does help impact the overall population, is handpicking. So put on a pair of garden gloves, take a bucket of soapy water, you can add a little dash of vegetable oil to it as well,' said Jabbour. 'Grab (the bugs) with your gloved hand and throw them into the bucket of soapy water.' Manning adds it's a 'pretty humane way of killing them.' 'If you can do that once a day at around 5 to 7 (p.m.), that's something you can do to give your tree a fighting chance,' he said. — with a file from Rebecca Lau
Global News
14 hours ago
- Global News
Park commissioner wants vote on ending Kits Pool reservation system
A Vancouver Park Board commissioner is calling for the online reservation system for the Kitsilano Pool to be scrapped. The city implemented the online reservation system during the COVID-19 pandemic, but some critics argue that it is inefficient and deters people who aren't web-savvy from using the facility. The current system holds about 20 per cent of its capacity for drop-in visitors. ABC Vancouver Park Commissioner Marie-Claire Howard is seeking to present an emergency motion at Monday night's board meeting that would return the pool to drop-in access only, starting Aug. 1. Howard said the park board has received 'hundreds of emails' complaining about the system. 3:25 Public invited to weigh in on the future of Kits Pool 'People are asking that not only the reservation system be scrapped at Kits Pool, but at all the outdoor pools in Vancouver. So, yeah, overall, it's very clear. No one likes it,' she told Global News. Story continues below advertisement 'It creates these gaps between sessions. So you lose two hours a day, every day at every pool. That's a total of 10 hours a day, which is the equivalent of having another pool in service.' Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Howard said freeing up additional pool capacity is particularly important right now, given many of the city's beaches are currently under a no-swimming advisory due to elevated E. coli levels. Independent Park Board Chair Laura Christensen said the reservation system has both advantages and disadvantages, but that overall it works. She acknowledged some pool time is lost during the reservation changeover time, but that under the drop-in only model some people camp out at the pool all day while others are left waiting in line for an unknown period of time until a space opens up. 'We're getting more people through the pool because we have designated slots so that there's more turnover in the pool so more people are able to access it,' she said. '(The system) shows when we have space available for drop-ins, and that's they're not being used. I think that says that the capacity is available. Really, I think it's an education thing to let people know that drop-ins are available and that they can come out.' Christensen added that Howard's motion may not actually be debated on Monday night, as it was not submitted in time to get on the agenda, and may not qualify for a last-minute addition as urgent business.
Global News
18 hours ago
- Global News
Bangladesh Air Force training jet crashes into school, killing 20 in capital
A Bangladesh Air Force training aircraft crashed into a school in Dhaka, the capital, shortly after takeoff on Monday afternoon, catching fire and killing the pilot and at least 19 other people, most of whom were students, officials said. Another 171 students were rescued with injuries from a smoldering two-story building, officials said, including many with burns who were whisked away in helicopters, motorized rickshaws and the arms of firefighters and parents. The Chinese-made F-7 BGI training aircraft experienced a 'technical malfunction' moments after takeoff at 1:06 p.m. local time, and the pilot attempted to divert the plane to a less populated area before crashing into the campus of Milestone School and College, according to a statement from the military. Students said the school's buildings trembled violently, followed by a big explosion that sent them running for safety. A desperate scene soon unfolded at the crash site, as panicked relatives searched for loved ones. Screams filled the air at a nearby hospital. Story continues below advertisement The Milestone school is in Dhaka's Uttara neighborhood, which is roughly 11 kilometers (7 miles) drive from the A.K. Khandaker air force base. The school is in a densely populated area near a metro station and numerous shops and homes. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy The pilot, Flight Lt. Mohammed Toukir Islam, made 'every effort to divert the aircraft away from densely populated areas toward a more sparsely inhabited location,' the military said, adding that it would investigate the cause of the accident. It is the deadliest plane crash in the Bangladeshi capital in recent memory. In 2008, another F-7 training jet crashed outside Dhaka, killing its pilot, who had ejected after he discovered a technical problem. The government announced a national day of mourning on Tuesday, with flags to fly at half-staff across the country. At the crash site Monday afternoon, a father sprinted with his daughter cradled in his arms. A mother cried out, having found her younger child, but desperately searched for her older one. Another father described his feeling of helplessness while waiting to learn the fate of his daughter. 'The plane crashed on the building where my daughter was. My wife called me, but I was praying so I could not pick up,' Jewel, who goes by one name, said at the scene. 'When I came here I saw there was a huge fire. There was a dead body of a child.' Story continues below advertisement Luckily, his daughter was safe, he said, but he saw many other children suffering from burns. Students also scrambled to see what had happened. 'We fought with the crowd and the soldiers to get close to the crash site in our school,' said Estiak Elahi Khan, who is in the 11th grade. 'What I saw I can't describe that … that's terrible.' Doctors at Uttara Adhunik Hospital said more than 60 students, many between the ages of 12 and 16, were transferred to a special hospital for burn victims. By Monday evening, rescuers continued to scour the debris, searching for bodies. A crane was being used to remove debris. Bangladesh's interim leader, Muhammad Yunus, also pledged an investigation, and he expressed his deep sorrow over the 'heartbreaking accident.' He called it 'a moment of deep national grief.' Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also expressed shock and sadness. 'Our hearts go out to the bereaved families,' Modi said in a post on X. 'India stands in solidarity with Bangladesh and is ready to extend all possible support and assistance.' Rafiqa Taha, a student who was not present at the time of the crash, said by phone that the school, with some 2,000 students, offers classes from elementary grades through high school. Story continues below advertisement 'I was terrified watching videos on TV,' the 16-year-old said. 'My God! It's my school.'
