Clean MURF site: Orsi

By Frank Matys Simcoe.com Jan 20, 2011
ORILLIA – Orillia’s mayor wants a city-owned property cleaned of contaminants but acknowledges it is unknown how that will be done and at what cost.
“Remediation is my cure, first,” Angelo Orsi said. “If that cure can’t be brought, we have to look at, what can we do with the site?”
Orsi says a plan to manage the risks associated with the decades-old industrial chemicals doesn’t go far enough.
“I ran on remediating the site,” Orsi said of the West Street property, proposed by previous councils as the site for a recreation facility. “I have never seen a remediation plan.”
Orsi made the comments just as the city posted the environment ministry’s certificate of property use.
The document is essentially a copy of the city’s risk management plan and outlines requirements the city must follow to develop the West Street site safely.
That plan does not address the need to rid the property of contaminants, Orsi says.
“I am not satisfied with management of the contaminants, unless there is proof that there is no technology to fix it,” he said.
Council this week rejected a motion by Coun. Tony Madden to hold public consultations on the certificate of property use, which is to be posted on the environment ministry web site for comment.
“Just to get people involved and help us to make the decision that we need to make in a timely fashion,” Madden said.
But others argued that the public would have ample opportunity to read the document online and comment to the province.
Neither was council warm to Madden’s call for consultants to be present at such a meeting, saying the added cost was unwarranted.
Speaking with Orillia Today, Orsi would not say whether he plans to honor an election promise to fire consultants tied to the trouble-plagued project.
He instead said a “second opinion” should be sought from “a new consultant,” were the city to pursue remediation.
Orsi warned that the city could face additional questions from the environment ministry following the 30-day public review period for the CPU.
“That’s again back to engaging the consultants again and spending more money,” he said. “We have got to assess that at the time.”
The document is available for public viewing on the city’s web site and concerns can be directed to the environment ministry, Orsi said.
Staff is available to answer questions, he added.