Saskatoon woman wants to find new use for contaminated site
A Saskatoon woman wants answers after discovering a contaminated abandoned lot in the Riversdale area.
Karen Farmer learned of the Imperial Oil lot, between 19th and 20th Street and Avenue J and K, while working on a location search for the city centre school project.
The lot borders Optimist Park, older homes and some new multi family dwellings.
“It’s a contaminated site that has been sitting here for 25 years, close to the downtown of Saskatoon,” Farmer told CTV News.
Farmer wants to raise awareness about lots like these in the hopes that they can be put to more productive use for the neighbourhoods.
“I think they want to pretend its not there. It’s a large area and we need housing. We need affordable housing,” she said.
Imperial Oil said in an email to CTV News that it started operating the site in 1911 as a bulk fuel plant and service station.
It was decommissioned in 1996 which involved the removal of structures and underground tanks.
Since 2010, the company says more than 760 sites have been put back into use.
Spokesperson Keri Scobie said “there are no near term plans for this site.”
The province has a list of hazardous waste sites online. More than 200 are in the Saskatoon area alone, including the Riversdale site.
Part of the original lot it is now used by CHEP Good Food.
“We run an internship and education program every summer for youth aged 15-30, bringing them together around growing good food,” Zoe Arnold, CHEP urban agriculture coordinator said.
The CHEP group grows mostly vegetables there, but they are grown in either plastic bins or have a plastic barrier underneath.
“There is potential contamination of the soil, so hydrocarbons could be released in the soil for instance so we wouldn’t be able to grow in the ground here,” Arnold said.
Farmer wants the city increase taxes on lots like this to make it less appealing to leave it sit as is.
According to the city, such commercial lots had a property tax bill of about $106,000 this year.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
NEW Keeping these exotic pets is 'cruel' and 'dangerous,' Canadian animal advocates say
Canadian pet owners are finding companionship beyond dogs and cats. Tigers, alligators, scorpions and tarantulas are among some of the exotic pets they are keeping in private homes, which pose risks to public safety and animal welfare, advocates say.
NEW Life got in the way of one woman's reunion with her father, but a DNA test gained her a family
Anne Marie Cavner was the closest she'd ever been to meeting her biological father, but then life dealt her a blow. From an unexpected loss to a host of new relationships, a DNA test changed her life, and she doesn't regret a thing.
Doctors ask Liberal government to reconsider capital gains tax change
The Canadian Medical Association is asking the federal government to reconsider its proposed changes to capital gains taxation, arguing it will affect doctors' retirement savings.
Quebec farmers have been protesting since December. Is anyone listening?
Upset about high interest rates, growing paperwork and heavy regulatory burdens, protesting farmers have become a familiar sight across Quebec since December.
'Catch-and-kill' strategy to be a focus as testimony resumes in Trump hush money case
A veteran tabloid publisher was expected to return to the witness stand Tuesday in Donald Trump's historic hush money trial.
Quebec Health Department reports 28 cases of eye damage linked to solar eclipse
Quebec's Health Department says it has received 28 reports of eye damage related to the April 8 total solar eclipse that passed over southern parts of the province.
Psychologist becomes first person in Peru to die by euthanasia after fighting in court for years
A Peruvian psychologist who suffered from an incurable disease that weakened her muscles and had her confined to her bed for several years, died by euthanasia, her lawyer said Monday, becoming the first person in the country to obtain the right to die with medical assistance.
Diver pinned under water by an alligator figured he had choice. Lose his arm or lose his life
An alligator attacked a diver on April 15 as he surfaced from his dive, nearly out of air. His tank emptied with the gator's jaws crushing the arm he put up in defence.
How quietly promised law changes in the 2024 federal budget could impact your day-to-day life
The 2024 federal budget released last week includes numerous big spending promises that have garnered headlines. But, tucked into the 416-page document are also series of smaller items, such as promising to amend the law regarding infant formula and to force banks to label government rebates, that you may have missed.