Melinda Lortie knows the former GM plant on Ontario Street all too well. She grew up just down the street and vividly remembers playing around the property during her pre-teen years. Her grandfather's house stood less than 200 metres away and her family home was just slightly beyond that.
She was unaware of the harmful toxic chemicals and dangerous heavy metal compounds present at the site, which municipal officials have known about since at least the start of 2020.
She fondly recalls skating at the Haig Bowl, playing in the nearby park and, at times, slipping through the fence line to explore the abandoned industrial site itself. With an easy smile, she describes how exploring the former industrial factory felt like an adventure back then—exciting and full of wonder.
Now 28, her memories of the GM site have darkened, as she thinks about her 18-month-old daughter, Violet.
Lortie reached out to The Pointer while anxiously awaiting the release of the Phase I and II Environmental Site Assessments (ESAs) for the 55-acre property at the heart of her working-class neighborhood in St. Catharines. Since The Pointer first reported the decision by Ontario’s Information and Privacy Commissioner (IPC), after a 28-month battle with the City of St. Catharines to have the documents made public, Lortie had been counting down the days until their release.
She is not the only one.
For years, City of St. Catharines officials have kept residents in the dark about the true state of the GM site.
For years, City of St. Catharines officials have kept residents in the dark about the true state of the GM site
The IPC decision changed that, and last week The Pointer reported what the two environmental studies found: dangerous levels of toxic chemicals and other potentially harmful compounds at levels as high as 1,100 times the limits established to protect humans and wildlife.
City officials have yet to state when they first received the two assessments, but it has been at least since January of 2020, according to information included in the documents the IPC ordered to be released to The Pointer.
It raises a number of questions about council’s decision to rezone the former industrial land in November of 2020 to make way for a residential development, despite the knowledge of City officials who knew about the alarming environmental assessment studies since at least January of that year.
The rezoning was aggressively pushed by former mayor Walter Sendzik. An investigation by The Pointer previously revealed Sendzik was working behind the scenes with the developer and City officials to orchestrate the rezoning and potentially get the developer taxpayer-funded subsidies for the $250 million mixed-use residential-commercial project, which was widely heralded by Sendzik and senior City staff. All of this was done with no public disclosure about the findings from the 2010 and 2012 studies, which found toxic chemicals at levels that would prevent any residential use.
Lortie mentions the “muttering of the community”— comments she picked up during long daily walks while on maternity leave. Neighbours in her friendly community would comment when work crews were present at the large brownfield property which had become an eyesore that posed a potential risk to those living nearby. Since the site was purchased by Bayshore Groups in 2014—it is currently owned by Movengo—various types of demolition work have been undertaken. It remains unclear if any further studies have been conducted on the contamination since 2012.
“So many of us want to know what’s happening, if our properties are safe, and if this fiasco will ever be rectified—if it's even possible for it to be rectified,” Lortie told The Pointer. “You want your home to be your safe haven, but when an eyesore like the old GM site looms in your backyard, the feeling of safety is diminished.”
The landowners after the sale were required to construct a massive berm to contain rainwater and snowmelt after it was revealed that toxic PCBs were leaking off the site. The design was meant to channel water to a processing facility to be treated before the water is released back into the environment.
Testing conducted in 2020/21 by the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) revealed that surface water became highly contaminated after coming into contact with the site’s soil. Toxic PCBs would then migrate off-site in what the Ministry described as a “continuous and significant leak” of PCBs. The findings were shared with councillors during a public meeting in 2021. It’s unclear why the MECP did not mention the disturbing levels of other contaminants on site, revealed in the 2010 and 2012 environmental assessments commissioned by GM. The MECP previously told The Pointer it received the two studies in January of 2020.
PCBs are carcinogenic chemicals linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular and liver disease and diabetes. Exposure also raises the likelihood of giving birth to low-weight infants, who face elevated lifetime risks for various health complications.
PCBs are carcinogenic chemicals linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular and liver disease and diabetes
The discovery of these toxins escaping the site only occurred after sustained advocacy from local citizen group, the Coalition for a Better St. Catharines. For years, the Coalition has argued that both the City and the MECP have failed in their responsibilities to protect residents from the human and environmental risks posed by the former GM site. The decision of City officials to side with General Motors in an effort to prevent the recently released ESA documents from ever seeing the light of day is evidence of what the group describes as blatant negligence.
"The City and Province have consistently downplayed the health risks associated with this site, characterizing the GM lands as typical of an abandoned industrial site that operated continuously for over 125 years,” Dennis Edell, a spokesperson for the Coalition told The Pointer.
He said this “don’t worry about it” approach is not only irresponsible but has been proven wrong.
"They told us the toxins were contained within the site. But when loud advocacy forced them to test, they discovered they were wrong. And yet, the testing has never been completed—we still don’t know the full story."
Edell emphasized the legitimate concern residents have about the site. "Unlike industrial sites located away from population centers or within industrial parks, the GM site is surrounded by commercial and residential neighborhoods on three sides and Twelve Mile Creek on the fourth. Living this close to a contaminated industrial site can expose residents to risks they’re simply unwilling to take. Several studies have shown that just living near industrial sites is linked to an increased risk of adverse health outcomes."
Lortie shares concerns about the lack of action taken by the City and MECP, especially because the contamination at the site has been well-known for years. She reflects on how everyone she’s spoken to in the neighborhood seemed to know the ESA results would be grim—“it was just a matter of how grim.”
She and her husband Chris have found what she calls a “quirky little house”—a home they feel lucky to own. It’s a place they both work hard to afford, a symbol of the life they are trying to build together with their young daughter.
But, as Lortie says, “everything feels different now.”
"I want Violet to know the joy of being barefoot in the rain, to sit and play in muddy puddles," she says. She no longer envisions that for her young daughter.
She speaks of a persistent fear when “the dust is in the air”—dust carried by the wind from the toxic site and into the neighborhood. On those days, outdoor play is simply not an option for Violet. The dust has a chemical smell Lortie struggles to identify. “It smells like rotten eggs, kind of sulphuric,” she describes. When that smell fills the air, she knows it’s time to head inside.
“It's truly disheartening how this information has been withheld from the public,” she says, referring to the environmental assessments the IPC ordered the City to make public. “The hope is always to believe the people leading the city have their citizens' best interest in mind, but I'm struggling to find a way to believe that shoving this information under the proverbial rug was done in good faith.”
The hope is always to believe the people leading the city have their citizens' best interest in mind
“It may sound cynical,” she continued, “but motherhood really has made me mad at the world. I love my daughter more than anything in this world, there truly is nothing else that tops her importance to me. I love every part of being a mom. My anger stems from what's around us. Chris and I have dedicated our lives to protecting this smart, thoughtful, inquisitive, beautiful child and the old GM site is like a monster looming behind us and I don’t know what that monster is capable of.”
The recently released EAs reveal the site was inundated with toxic chemicals when the last study was conducted in 2012—chemicals that are not only persistent but also highly mobile. The environmental reports list a chilling array of substances on the site exceeding provincial limits established to protect humans and wildlife, including petroleum hydrocarbons, lead, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), benzene, cobalt, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Many of these substances were present in 2012 at levels between 10 and 1,100 times the province’s limit. It is unclear what the current levels are.
Speaking on behalf of the Coalition, Edell expressed concern with the City’s and MECP’s response so far. The City should not rely on the MECPs cursory testing and needs to hire independent environmental consultants to find out what the current state of the site is, he said. The Ministry should then be pressured to conduct frequent high-level testing with full public disclosure of the results.
"We know the site is laden with cancer-causing chemicals, and that demands extraordinary action from all levels of government," he said. "The release of the ESAs confirms that the reality is likely worse than any of us expected. The city should be pushing hard for follow-up studies regarding the health of residents in neighbourhoods adjoining the site."
He points out that the MECP has still not made public the full results from testing of the berm system that was installed two years ago.
“The MECP only published preliminary findings. The mere presence of PCBs in city storm sewers was alarming. On top of this the finding of a ‘significant and continuous’ discharge of PCBs into Twelve Mile Creek raises the issue of the safety of consuming fish caught at Martindale pond."
Lortie mentions the neighbourhood park where she spent so many childhood afternoons playing. She had hoped Violet would create her own memories there, but when “dust from the old site makes the air feel thick and has a distinct smell,” those hopes quickly fade away.
While the City of St. Catharines and the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks have failed to make the Phase I and II site assessments public, The Pointer is sharing these documents with readers here, along with a copy of the order from the Information and Privacy Commissioner that compelled the City to release the documents.
Ed Smith is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter based at The Pointer.
