St. Catharines MPP calls for repair or demolition of crumbling former General Motors plant

The local MPP for St. Catharines is calling on General Motors to clean up and remediate its former site on Ontario Street.

The city says the building is in danger of collapsing, and neighbours are concerned that soil on the land is contaminated, but GM says the location was in compliance when they left more than ten years ago.

The former site of a General Motors plant sits on the brink of collapse in the middle of a St. Catharines neighbourhood.

People who live nearby say in the more than 10 years since the GM plant closed, the building has become a source of frustration.

One person told CHCH News that homeless people are often seen going to the building, and with their appearance follows emergency crews seemingly every day.

The company BayShore Groups purchased the property in 2014, and began demolition shortly after.

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The City of St. Catharines says it conducted an assessment of the site last week, after receiving a number of complaints.

Inspectors found that part of the roof and several walls on the remaining properties at 282 and 285 Ontario Street were already collapsing, and at risk of crumbling further.

The city is ordering the building owners to either repair the damage or start the process of demolishing the structure, with the hope of building something new on the property eventually.

In a statement, St. Catharines Mayor Mat Siscoe says he wants to assure the community, “that the property owners will be held accountable to the orders that have been issued.”

However, neighbours are also concerned about potential contamination from the factory.

One local resident told CHCH News that they worry about contaminants leaching into the groundwater, and if that is being tracked as more people come and go through the area.

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That’s a concern that local MPP Jennie Stevens took to Queen’s Park Wednesday, calling on the government to use its powers under the Environmental Protection Act to hold General Motors accountable for the cost of the clean up.

“Families deserve to know their water, and their soil, and the air they breathe is safe,” said Stevens, “and taxpayers should never and should not be left paying to clean up the mess.”

General Motors says when it “sold the Ontario Street property in 2014, it was in good condition and met Ontario environmental requirements.” The company adds, “we are encouraged that the City of St. Catharines has issued orders to the current owners of the property to continue steps towards redevelopment of the site.”

The Ontario Environment Minister Todd McCarthy responded during Wednesday’s Question Period, saying the current owners — BayShore Groups — has followed the ministry’s orders to mitigate dust and chemicals.

“The work has been completed that we directed to be done — follow up monitoring confirmed that PCBs (Polychlorinated biphenyls) are no longer an issue in the storm water,” said McCarthy. “We’re aware of the municipality’s directive and order, we support that, and will continue to monitor with our ministry officials.”

CHCH News also reached out to the current owners of the site, BayShore Groups, about their role in remediating the site, but they have not responded.

The company has until June 12 to appeal the city’s orders.

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