Harding "pretty benign"

Developer says he did 'homework' before bidding on property
11/06/2003

BY SUSAN GAMBLE
EXPOSITOR STAFF / BRANTFORD

Environment reports that found little contamination at the former Harding Carpet factory in the mid-1990s are news to some officials. But developer Steve Charest who is set to take ownership of the 10acre site Nov. 14, said Wednesday that he knew what to expect before he made his offer to buy.

"We do our homework," Charest said.

One set of reports, developed by Harding in 1994 and 1995, was filed with the Ministry of the Environment in 2000. Charest says he has a more current. Phase 2 reports.

All the reports say essentially the same thing: there's a pocket of contamination in the middle of the one block Morrell Street site but, compared to other industrial sites, the contaminants are at low levels.

"It's a pretty benign site considering its age and use," confirmed Environment Ministry supervisor John Cooke.

Charest said all the information about the site was readily available.

'We had a reasonable understanding of the level of contamination when we made the bid," said Charest, president of Toronto based King and Benton Development Corp., which purchased the property from the city for $100,000.

"When you're in the Brownfield’s business you can't go into anything blind."

He said he obtained the Phase 2 report from a "group that supports causes in Brantford." He said he'll share it with the community as soon as he has possession of the property.

"It was just a matter of time before someone asked this question," Charest said. "I think it's amazing that a reporter can spend 10 minutes and obtain the information and the Brownfield’s committee doesn't have it. It's been right in front of everyone's nose."

As part of the Harding deal. King and Benton would take the site "as is," and accept all liability, while the city would clear all outstanding legal issues concerning the site and wipe out $3.8 million in tax arrears.

Mayor Chris Friel said Wednesday that he was never very concerned about the potential for contamination at Harding.

As for why neither municipal staff nor councillors seemed to know about the ministry reports, Friel said he'd also like answers to those questions.

"Apparently the ministry called our staff on Tuesday and said. There's a reporter here looking at some reports and we think you should have a copy of them'," said Friel.

The Phase 1 and 2 reports were sent to the city on Wednesday,
"At one point in the process we asked for any Phase 1 or 2 reports, and the only time we got it is when the media shows up." Whether the information would have made a big difference is debatable, according to the mayor.

"Those reports are only a snapshot. The property was benign eight years ago, but that's not to say things haven't changed."

Other public documents filed with the ministry show that in 2001 and again following The Expositor's look at the interior of Harding in October, the property owner was served with environmental orders to dean up the site.

The ministry said those orders which also specified each of the companies responsible for storing chemicals, plastics, tires and waste on the site were shared with the Brantford fire department.

Friel said council and city staff was not aware of the orders.
Mayoral candidate Coun. Mike Hancock said he is unhappy to learn that there are reports about Harding that
The city didn't have. Staff must accept that they should have

"I have an excerpt from a city report. Covering every Brownfield site," said Hancock, "and it shows Harding is rated as medium to high likelihood of contamination, so why didn't we know better?”

The councilor said he thought he had done due diligence .on the project and that a connection between the city and the Ministry of the Environment was obviously missing,

"Should we not have asked about any reports and should they not have offered any reports?

Coun. Marguerite Ceschi Smith, who heads the city's Brownfield committee, said the city did ask the ministry about reports at one point. Still, council and staff must accept that they should have done more homework.

"If the site was highly contaminated, we had an obligation to the neighborhood to deal with it, and if it wasn't we had a responsibility to the taxpayers to get a good price. ,

"If you're going to buy a house, don't you check it out?"
Harding neighbor Kathy Wilson said she is angry that the city didn't thoroughly investigate the site before the sale.

"This process has failed, failed, failed. The issues we've been facing down here (in Homedale) have been neglected and $3.8 million in taxes have been waived that could have gone into the problems here."

Realtor Bob Boswell said it isn't reasonable that the city was unaware of the information in the reports. "If the ministry report indicates there's not much cause for concern, then something is absolutely haywire."

City CAO Hans Loewig refused to discuss the situation until after Monday's municipal election.

"(The Harding deal) was in the paper twice today and enough is enough. Another article is just overkill."

Charest said he's looking forward to taking possession of the site and getting down to work to transform it into warehouse space.

"It's important to recognize that the smallest component of redevelopment is the price. We still have asbestos to deal with and dean up costs and structural issues. We have a huge job ahead of us."

Friel said he feels disappointed in the whole process.

"If we had a lot more information, we wouldn't have made this deal. I feel personally responsible and I don't know why, but we can never let it happen like this again."