St. Boniface soil report hits provincial minister's desk

The Manitoba government says it's prioritizing a review of a report that found some soil in St. Boniface contaminated with toxic heavy metals.

• Testing reveals toxic heavy metals in St. Boniface soil
• St. Boniface residents meet with province to demand new air tests

A recent report from researchers at the University of Manitoba found levels of lead, copper, zinc and cadmium in South St. Boniface that,in some cases,exceeded Canadian standards by 3-15 times the recommended limit.

The province says the full report was submitted to Sustainable Development Minister Rochelle Squires on Monday, and it's now working with Manitoba Health to determine the level of risk.

The report comes after the St. Boniface Residents' Association asked U of M researchers to help deal with their concerns about Industrial Metals, a metal recycling plant in south St. Boniface.

Some residents have complained in recent years about the dust and noise from the plant, though the company maintains it is in complete compliance withstringent environmental guidelines.

Kalen Qually,press secretary for Squires, said there is no timeline for the review to be completed.