Collingwood council agreed, though not unanimously, to a developer's request to keep contaminated soil onsite under a berm instead of trucking it away from a residential neighbourhood.
At a meeting Aug. 18, council voted 6-2 to allow the containment berm, but to still encourage the developer and landowner to investigate and apply for brownfield redevelopment funding from upper levels of government that could help cover the cost of full or partial off-site disposal of the contaminated soil.
Councillors Chris Carrier and Yvonne Hamlin were opposed to the request.
"It would be great if funding could be found ... that would assist in the developer's cost of moving the contamination off-site, but there's no guarantee of that," said Hamlin. "I will never vote in favour of contaminated lands being stored on a residential site."
The request was made to council by Trails of Collingwood developer David Farracuti, whose family has owned the former apple orchard property on High Street between Telfer Road and the Underwood Creek Trail near Tenth Street.
The plan for Trails of Collingwood is to build 34 single-detached homes, 32 semi-detached homes, 125 apartments, and 46 townhouses on the site. However, soil testing revealed DDT, DDE and arsenic in quantities exceeding provincial standards for residential development.
DDT was used in insecticides before being identified as a possible human carcinogen and environmental pollutant. Use and sale of DDT was discontinued and banned in Canada in 1985. DDE is similar and can form when DDT breaks down. Arsenic is toxic to humans and long-term exposure can cause cancer.
Rather than remove the 48,000 cubic metres of contaminated soil (estimated at $3.5 million in 2015), the developer proposes a containment berm on site, similar to the concept used for the Collingwood Shipyards development. The berm is behind the Collingwood Amphitheatre and was monitored by the town for ten years.
The berm proposed on the Trails of Collingwood property would be monitored by the developer for two years before being handed over to the town as passive, open space (0.8 hectares) not to be developed.
Staff reported to council’s development and operations services standing committee on Aug. 8 that the contaminated soil would be contained in a synthetic liner inside the berm, and that monitoring costs and securities for the berm for 10 years would be borne by the developer. The berm would be transferred to the town, with certificates confirming the site condition, and after two years of monitoring to confirm the contaminants are stable within the berm and are not migrating.
The contained soil would be covered by 1.5 metres of clean soil to support deep-rooted trees.
Town staff said the estimated cost of a containment berm is around $300,000 to $400,000, which is about 10 per cent of the 2015 estimate for removing the soil and disposing of it off-site.
Collingwood planner Mark Bryan said the development has had draft approval since 2008. Farracuti confirmed his family has owned the land for 30 years.
Coun. Hamlin said the cost of moving the soil off-site is relative, and noted the developer would make the money back on the sale of the homes.
"If it's too expensive for him to move it off-site now, well he's owned the property for a few decades, he can wait a few more," said Hamlin during the Aug. 18 meeting. "The value will keep going up and eventually it will be worth the cost for him to move it off-site and develop."
Coun. Kathy Jeffery said she was satisfied the plan for the berm meets and exceeds the town's standards.
For construction to start on the Trails of Collingwood subdivision, more town approvals are required, including allocation of water and wastewater servicing through the town’s new merit-based service allocation policy.