01-12-2016, 10:04 AM
Kitchener to put contaminated factory site up for sale
So a potential buyer, in addition to paying at least $1million for the property would also be on the hook for "a hefty environmental cleanup bill" of unspecified heft.
Meanwhile the neighbours have to live near a property that was classified as [I'm being a bit hyperbolic here, but only a bit] a toxic waste dump almost a decade ago.
If the current owner won't clean up their mess then why doesn't the city do it for them and add the cost to the accumulated taxes? At least that way the contamination will get cleaned up, something that has to happen eventually, in any case. Or can this situation remain unresolved for another decade?
Quote: The city's legal department plans to sell a long-empty industrial building in a bid to collect back taxes.
The property, which includes a four-storey brick building and a newer adjoining structure, has sat essentially empty for decades at the corner of Shanley and Duke streets. It's a contaminated, boarded-up eyesore in the midst of a residential neighbourhood.
The city plans to advertise the property at 152 Shanley St. for sale for "around $1 million" in late March or early April, said Lesley MacDonald, the city's solicitor...
Anyone buying the property will face a hefty environmental cleanup bill. The Ministry of the Environment ordered the site cleaned in 2007, and registered the cleanup order on the property title in 2008.
"We are well aware of 152 Shanley St.," said Greta Najcler, district supervisor at the ministry's Guelph office.
The soil and groundwater on the property have "elevated concentrations of metals, petroleum hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds and trichloroethylene (TCE)," an industrial degreaser, Najcler said.
"Should the property be purchased, any future owner will be required to fulfil the requirements of the order to address contamination on-site," Najcler said...
So a potential buyer, in addition to paying at least $1million for the property would also be on the hook for "a hefty environmental cleanup bill" of unspecified heft.
Meanwhile the neighbours have to live near a property that was classified as [I'm being a bit hyperbolic here, but only a bit] a toxic waste dump almost a decade ago.
If the current owner won't clean up their mess then why doesn't the city do it for them and add the cost to the accumulated taxes? At least that way the contamination will get cleaned up, something that has to happen eventually, in any case. Or can this situation remain unresolved for another decade?