Chayell Palm Canada Ltd. - Certificate of property use

As a result of the public consultation on the proposal, the ministry received two sets of public comments/concerns. A summary of the concerns and how they were considered by the director are as noted below.

Many of the comments did not suggest changes to the Certificate of Property Use (CPU), but were questions regarding concerns about the potential for impacted soils and ground water to adversely impact on and off-site receptors.

No changes to the CPU were made in response to the public comments.

In response to the comments, the following should be noted:

The risk assessment that was accepted by the ministry on June 13, 2022 assessed the potential for on and off-site adverse effects as part of the human health and ecological risk assessment components. The results of this assessment indicated that no on-site and no off-site adverse effects are anticipated due to the site conditions and proposed risk management measures. Also, it should be noted that no impacted soils were identified at the site as defined in the CPU.

In addition, it should be noted that an exceedance of the ministry’s generic site condition standards as outlined in the document entitled “Soil, Ground Water and Sediment Standards for use under Part XV.1 of the Environmental Protection Act” dated July 1, 2011 does not necessarily mean that the concentrations are causing or likely to be causing an adverse effect.

As outlined in the ministry accepted Risk Assessment and the CPU, the proposed use is to include a mixed use of residential and commercial property uses. In order to allow for the change in use of the site from former commercial/industrial uses to the more sensitive use the owners must file a record of site condition for the property on the Ministry’s Brownfields Environmental Site Registry as per section 168.3 of the Environmental Protection Act. The filing of a record of site condition provides certain protections for the owner from the ministry issuing orders under section 7, 8, 12, 17, 18, 97, 157, or 157.1 of the Environmental Protection Act (see section 168.7 of the Environmental Protection Act for further details).

In addition, clarifications on specific Items under the draft CPU that related to the public comments are as follows:

The requirements under Item 4.2.4 “Future Site Development” are meant to address future situations during development in which unanticipated impacts may be identified during construction activities that may not have been addressed as part of the risk assessment. The requirements under this Item ensures that any unanticipated impacts identified are addressed in keeping with the original assumptions and requirements that were used during the risk assessment process.

Regarding Item 4.2.6 of the CPU, a copy of the Soil Vapour Intrusion Mitigation System design will need to be provided to the City in order to obtain a building permit. The requirements under the Certificate of Property Use are requirements that also need to be accounted for as part of the building permit process. To help facilitate this, a copy of the final CPU is provided to both the City Clerk and the Chief Building Official at the time of issuance.

The submission of reports to the City regarding inspections and monitoring programs is not included in CPUs but could be included as part of the building permit(s) and/or site plan agreements to be issued by the City.

The requirements under Item 4.2.9 “Ground Water Monitoring Program” outlines the on-going ground water monitoring program to be completed at the Site to ensure that any changes to the ground water regime, including Contaminant of Concern concentrations are identified and addressed, if needed, in particular during development.

Item 4.2.9.4 outlines the requirements to be implemented as part of the on-going ground water monitoring program if the potential for off-Site migration of impacted ground water that may be causing or likely to cause an off-site adverse effect is identified, including notification to the Director. Requirements to notify the City are not included in the CPU, however, as noted above, this requirement could be included as part of the building permit(s) and/or site plan agreements to be issued by the City. If the ministry is notified of an off-site adverse effect, the ministry will as part of its normal practices consult with the City and any affected parties.

Item 4.2.9.5 requires that if any ground water monitoring well required under this monitoring program is destroyed or damaged, that it will be repaired or replaced to ensure the continuing integrity of the monitoring program.