Environmental due diligence at 70 Front Street North in Orillia, ON

The City of Orillia wants to re-develop a portion of its downtown property (Coldwater Street at Front Street) in order to open up access to the City’s waterfront. The City has control over the property for due diligence work and may purchase the property in the near future. After the Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (ESA), Orillia is completing a Phase 2 ESA and further delineation work. Should the City decide to purchase the property in the fall of 2015, they will conduct a Risk Assessment. This project stems from the City's Downtown Tomorrow Plan to revitalize Orillia's downtown and create better access to the City's waterfront. The property is key to this plan and its acquisition would allow for increased access to the waterfront. The due diligence work will outline any risk management measures that may be required should the City purchase and redevelop this property, which has a known industrial past. Based on the former industrial and commercial activity of the 2.24 hectare site, Phase 1 findings indicated potential soil and groundwater contamination with metals, inorganics, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and Petroleum Hydrocarbons (PHCs). Early analytical results from the Phase 2 ESA soil samples identified exceedances in conductivity, which were likely due to de-icing salt applications to the parking lot and roads. Results also identified lead and mercury exceedances as well as elevated levels of VOCs and metals in the groundwater as a result of industrial use. Consultants determined that further risk assessment work would be needed to pinpoint the horizontal and vertical extents of the contaminants for remediation. This will include further delineation of lead and mercury impacts on soil, as well as a Screening Level Risk Assessment (SLRA) to determine the human and environmental risk of groundwater contamination under current use versus redevelopment. Further delineation will determine the extent of chemical impact such that a remedial approach may be developed and its associated costs estimated. If City Council decided to purchase the property, then the risk assessment and risk management strategies would be fully designed and implemented. The benefits resulting from the risk assessment process are either remediating impacted areas or controlling any identified environmental hazards to humans. The potential environmental benefits of the project are essentially risk managed soil and groundwater. Transforming a former industrial site and underutilized commercial area into new mixed housing neighbourhoods will also improve the social and economic dynamic of the downtown core, and ties in with the long term vision of the city to open up more green space along Centennial Drive. This project will be relevant to other municipalities that want to increase access to waterfronts with safe cycling routes while also attracting new development and urban revitalization. (Project description from original funding application)