‘If there is a risk, tell us’: Neighbours want answers about toxic pollution cleanup under Central Park

Hamilton is about to begin the final cleanup of an infamous toxic mess buried under Central Park - but some residents say they deserved to be told more about the risks ahead of time.

Resident complaints about oozing oil spurred tests as far back as 2012 at the L-shaped park where Caroline and Sheaffe streets once intersected with an old rail spur. Early probes of the industrial property-turned-park revealed buried coal tar and cancer-causing chemicals like benzene linked to defunct, pollution-plagued roof tar company Currie Products.

But the studies continued even as the city started removing thousands of tonnes of polluted dirt from the park in 2020. The latest reports, posted online as part of project tender documents, contain details that unnerve some residents - including a risk assessment suggesting polluted water could leach into neighbouring properties.

They're talking about it moving through the groundwater toward peoples' homes? I've heard nothing about that," said park neighbour Elizabeth Ward, who argued the city should have made public and explained the studies to neighbours, rather than let them surface in media reports.

I think the city needs to be more transparent with us. If there is a risk, tell us. We deserve to be consulted on the solution."

The public health department told The Spectator in 2014 it believed the buried pollution posed very little risk" to the public because it was not easily accessible. On Tuesday, public health said in a statement it would review the most recent studies to determine if the assessment of risk has changed."

But the city said casual users of the currently closed park, or homeless residents living on the outskirts in tents, should not be able to touch any contaminated material that remains buried.

The extent of the pollution outlined in the latest studies was no surprise to Susi Rudaniecki, whose husband, Steve, grew up near the old tar plant and was diagnosed with stage IV chronic lymphocytic leukemia at age 51.

Steve Rudaniecki told the Spectator he sometimes wondered if his cancer was linked to pollution exposure - and he pushed the city for years to dig up and clean up" the polluted park. As late as 2015, the city thought it might be able to simply add more clay to the cap" overtop the park pollution.

Rudaniecki died in August - but not before the city had switched gears and removed 18,000 tonnes of soil from the park behind his Caroline Street North home.

He always said the pollution was bad down there - and he was proved right," said Susi. I think he would be pleased they started taking it seriously ... (But) he would also want them to listen to the people who live here, to tell them what's happening."

The city started studying the pollution at the request of residents and publicly committed" to remediation in 2014, said ward councillor Jason Farr.

But after hosting a question-and-answer session on the project with neighbourhood association members in July, Farr said he committed to participants that the city would post more information about the park revamp and cleanup on a dedicated project website. He expects that to happen soon."

Farr said he has fielded more questions about delays in a project that, at one point, was pegged to begin in late 2015. He believes the question of how to handle potential polluted groundwater migration is really what bogged us down" and resulted in additional study.

City engineering head Gord McGuire said the current plan is to dig up polluted hot spots and trap dangerous chemicals in groundwater in a series of staggered filtration boreholes near the north end of the park.

Most of the digging is actually done on the site, with 18,355 tonnes of contaminated fill already trucked to landfill. (At one point consultants thought a large rail car might have been buried on the site and require excavation - but it turned out to be a section of foundation shot through with metal rebar.)

The new project contract - which should be awarded next month - envisions up to 1,000 tonnes of additional soil removal.

By next June, the cleanup and capping of the site should be complete and the park is supposed to reopen with rebuilt amenities including a dog park, basketball court and splash pad.

Matthew Van Dongen is a Hamilton-based reporter covering transportation for The Spectator. Reach him via email: mvandongen@thespec.com