Contaminants in soil, groundwater at former Charles Street terminal must be removed before site is developed

Contaminants foundin soil and groundwater will need to be removed before the land where the former Charles Street Terminal is located can be redeveloped.

That was part of an update regional councillors heard during a planning and works committee meeting Tuesday on the ongoing work to determine the future use of the site in downtown Kitchener.

The update alsoincluded whatregional staff have heard so far from public and stakeholder engagement, as well asfuture dates to continue talking to the public.

Work on determining the future of the site started back in November 2019. Last July, it was determined the terminal was going to be redeveloped for multiple uses, which couldincludeaffordable housing.

Sarah Millar,land portfolio managerwith the region's economic development and housing department, said staff initiated environmental site assessmentsand geo-technical studiesthrough MTE Consultants in Kitchener.

Results fromthose assessmentsfound contaminants like lead and hydrocarbons in thesite's soil at depths of less than 1.5 metres. Deeper soil was found to have waste contaminants from past demolition projects, Millar said.

Groundwater contamination wasrelated to chlorinated solvents,localized metals and acid base neutral compounds.

"I can say that this work from MTEdid confirm that there is no on-site source identified," Millarsaid in her presentation andnotedMTE's findings are not out of the ordinary given the industrial history of the site.

"What is important is for us to figure out a path forward to remediate the site and [move] into development," she said.

"We're currently assessing the right path to address contamination and achieve a record of site condition before redevelopment."

It will also need to be determined whether the work needs to be done by theregion or the City of Kitchener,the report said,since the site is 12 per cent owned by the city and 88 per cent by the region.

Community engagement continues

Thegoal will also be to continueengagementwith the community and stakeholders about the project, said Matthew Chandy, director of innovation and economic development with the region.

"We're far from done this process. There is still quite a bit of community discussion and engagement that is planned in 2023," he said.

Stakeholder labs will be the next phase of community outreach, which aim to be a more focused conversation with groups that may have ideas around the site's future use.

Millar said those groups include the downtown business and neighbourhood community, arts and culture,youth,environmental groups, as well as Indigenous communities.

The terminal has been pitched as a possibleIndigenous hub in the past, and it is being considered as a potential location, among others,to create Indigenous spaces, said Bruce Lauckner, the region's chief administrative officer.

"Either April or May we're going to bring back some broader discussion around some of our other locations and regional properties that some of thosegroupsare interested in, Charles Street is just one," Lauckner said.