Coal tar contamination area in Belleville’s Foster ward. (File photo: John Spitters/Quinte News)
There’s good news regarding a worrisome piece of land off South Front Street near Jane Forrester Park in Foster ward.
The property in question is in the area of South Front and St. Paul Streets with a section of it belonging to Hawkins Cheezies.
In the 1800s the property was the site of a Coal Gasification Plant and initial studies in recent years showed the land to be polluted.
Today (Wednesday), the eight property owners involved in a cleanup plan, including the City of Belleville, learned that any contamination of surface soils were from historic land uses and had nothing to do with the coal tar plant.
Also, there is little to no risk to human or ecological health from the surface soil, provided a risk management plan is created along with advice on hygiene for personal protection.
Reports also indicate there is no risk to surface water or to sediment in the nearby water.
The property owners have been under a Ministry of Environment order to work on a cleanup plan since 2015 and the City of Belleville has been leading the process.
There had been fears that a potential cleanup of the land would need to be intrusive and very expensive but
the Ministry of Environment’s conclusions should allay those concerns.
The provincial order includes the City of Belleville, 105 Pinnacle Limited, Kent D. Hawkins, Darlene Hawkins, Anthony J. McGarvey, 835267 Ontario Inc., Naomi Spiegel and Sidney Spiegel.
