,
+

: By SARAH A.
, ZIMMERMAN

A8 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Contaminated gas station sites -SPOPPERS
problematic for urban an

ONCE the Shell gas station
>on Kalum St. is shut down, |

: the number of -. vacant
‘ contaminated gas stations in
‘ Terrace will rise to five.
Each site is in a prime
‘ business location but remain
‘vacant until the owners re-
sponsible forthe contami-

‘ination either pay to clean
‘up the soil: or let the sites:

*- sit — often for years ~ until
‘they remediate themselves

‘ through a natural process,

-‘ Though owners of the
‘sites are within their rights —

‘to leave the properties va-
‘cant for as long as they like,
-the empty lots prove trouble-

_ Some in'terms of aesthetics —
‘and future business develop- _

ment.

’ City planner David Block
“Says the sites aren’t neces-
‘sarily a problem for the city

‘but.he concedes having con- —

“taminated sites remain va-
“cant is not the ideal:

“Ideally we'd like to see -
‘remediation happen so a -
new commercial use can be..

developed on the site,” he

.says. “Alternatively the cur- |

‘rent owners, if they would
-do’some level of landscap-
‘ing and make them more at-

. ‘tractive that would definitely

,.be welcome.”
Including the Kalum St.

. ‘Shell Station, which is be-

‘ing bought by Shell’Ganada

‘after environmental testing

‘proved contamination ex-
‘isted there: prior to its sale
‘in, 1982 to local. owner Gi-
‘annino Pretto, other con-

‘taminated former gas station |.

‘sites in Terrace include:

-e Former Esso, : ‘Station on.
-. Emérson ‘St. and : Lakelse

: -Ave.

‘ Former - Petro- Canada sta-" :
; tion on sparks St. and -

 Lakelse Ave. where the’
- now closed 7-11 conve-
. nience store was
° ‘Former Chevron station on

16.
‘* Former Co-op gas station
. on the site the city recently
’ purchased downtown.
When gas station sites are
‘contaminated owners may

‘choose to clean up the soil:

through expensive excava-
tion but it can cost hundreds
of thousands of dollars just’
to clean up the soil, not to
mention further costs of
developing the site after-
ward.

“That, would be why sites
like the Esso property down-
town remain vacant because

. the cost to remediate: ex- .
ceeds greatly the value of

the property on the market,”

Block says.

Many companies or in-
"dependent: owners simply
‘choose to let the site sit

and go through a process .

called natural . attenuation,

says Block. That process in-
volves natural biodegration
of the hydrocarbons in the’

soil with little human inter-

ference.
Sometimes | companies
‘help this process along by
increasing the flow of oxy-
gen to the soil through a se-.
ries of pipes and fans.
That type -of remedial
work has been ongoing at
the former Co-op site. |

“That’s very close to get- ©

ting the final clean state,”
Block says, adding though
the city owns the property

Esso claimed responsibility .

for the contamination and
remediation process several
years ago.

_ The vacant lots are one of
many items city officials are
considering as they prepare
a preliminary concept for the
city’s new downtown plan.
-° The city has been solicit-
‘ing ideas from business own-
ers and the general public
for the past several months

_ preparing a report on how
. to spruce up the downtown

‘core, increasing its vibrancy

and encouraging more foot _

traffic. Part of that plan in-
volves looking at options for
dealing with unkempt va-
cant lots and the increasing
number of contaminated gas
station properties leaves few
options for the city in terms
of making those properties
more attractive.

. .A past attempt to convert

should pay for property taxes
Esso wanted the city to carry -

‘expensive.
. St Shell station once its pur-

month,

early to say what will hap-
‘pen to the property in the °

|, Kenney St. and Highway

A non-profit society

the former Esso gas station

ae CA

site on the corner of Lakelse ; Wy control spread of
Ave. and Emerson St. into a | \ peurnaates invasive plants.
park was quashed after Esso Northwest

and the city couldn’t come INVASIVE PLANT COUNCIL -

635.7IPS |

Northwest Invasive Plant Council

working to prevent and

1 -866- —

to an agreement over who
should a park be developed.
* the coast, but that proved too

Field
scabious

Shell Canada’ has said it Knapweed

’ Common tansy Leafy spurge

o

will not operate the Kalum
Early Detection

100 % funding for control of new invasive plants

Cost Share Program
Up to $500 reimbursement for weed control on private
land: call the toll-free hotline -

chase from owner Giannino
Pretto is complete next

The company is expected
to demolish the building but
Shell officials: say it’s too

For information about noxious weeds and invasive ;
plants call the NWIPC at 1-866-449-3337

PLANNER David Block says contaminated lots such as the one on the corner of

information, Education & Awareness Program |

future. - » Emerson St. and Lakelse Ave. are difficult to develop. SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN PHOTO '

o

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