No 'unacceptable' health risks at arena site
RAY SPITERI - Niagara Falls Review
Local News - Thursday, April 12, 2007 Updated @ 7:06:43 AM
Not only is the Cyanamid property environmentally suitable to house an arena, but a new 3,000 seat twin-pad complex there would provide significant economic spinoffs, officials involved in the project say.
"In this location, an arena is not just an arena," said Luciano Picconi, of RCI Consulting, which has worked with the city on other projects.
"It will act as a major catalyst for redevelopment of the rest of the Cytec lands and have spinoff effects for other areas of the city, such as the downtown."
Picconi was one of more than 10 speakers at an information session Wednesday for city council .
They called the special meeting to learn more about what has been done to ensure the site is safe for redevelopment, and to alleviate concerns from the public and a labour union group about the project. "Every $1 spent on brownfield redevelopment generates $3.80 in economic output, the highest multiplier of any sector, as well as producing additional spending in the local economy," Picconi said.
Council picked the land on Stanley Avenue, formerly home to a chemical plant, as the future site of a twin-pad arena in 2005 to replace the aging Niagara Falls Memorial Arena.
New Jersey-based Cytec, which inherited Cyanamid's decommissioned properties, plans to donate to the city 16 acres of the 93-acre site.
Cytec has been following the Record of Site Condition process required by Ontario's environment ministry before an industrial brownfield can be redeveloped. The risk assessment study that's required has been approved by the Ministry of Environment.
"This will increase employment and income-generating opportunities, increase property tax revenues, allow for the reuse of existing infrastructure and is in close proximity to user groups, which means reduced travel costs, air emissions and energy consumption," said Picconi.
David Schram, an environmental consultant the city hired to manage the arena project, said the Cyanamid site is most appropriate for an arena for a number of reasons, including no land acquisition cost to the city, the site is large enough for a four-plex with on-site parking, and no amendments would be needed to the official plan or zoning bylaws to permit the project.
He said Cytec has "diligently and completely" followed the Ministry of Environment's risk assessment process and has met "the provincial test.
"There have been 42,000 soil and groundwater tests done and all of the independent studies have been approved by the MOE," said Schram. "As I have said before, this site is acceptable for an arena."
Geoff Westerby, a hydrologist from Gartner Lee, which has monitored the cleanup, said from 2000 to 2005 there have been 42 soil samples from 20 locations throughout the 16-acre site.
There were also seven groundwater samples from seven monitoring wells. Recent environmental investigations also included the entire Cytec site.
"There is no groundwater use in the area," said Westerby. "Groundwater flow is generally away from the arena area."
Extensive soil and groundwater testing over the years revealed "only minor soil and groundwater impacts."
Dr. Glenn Ferguson, of Intrisnik Environmental Inc., a consultant to Cytec, said hypothetical exposure scenarios were even considered in the arena site risk assessment using "worst-case exposure assumptions."
One of those included an outdoor maintenance person working eight hours a day, five days a week, 40 weeks a year for 30 years.
"There are no unacceptable health risks to human receptors under any of the evaluated worst-case exposure scenarios," said Ferguson.
Unite Here, a labour union representing hotel workers in Niagara Falls, sounded the alarm about the Cyanamid site, saying the environmental review was using old data, some of it taken in the 1990s after the plant closed. The union called for an independent review of the site's condition.
City clerk Dean Iorfida said Wednesday's session was only for informational purposes to "get all the parties involved in this process together and discuss everything on the table."
Iorfida said points made by officials involved in the project were also stated during last October's information session.
Unite Here representative Eric Gillespie didn't see things that way. "What I have heard here tonight is quite a bit of new information - scientific and technical information that is very difficult to respond to on the spot like this," said Gillespie.