The sight of a backhoe at Midland Bay Landing was enough for some residents to put out a call for action.
Ward 2 councillor Bill Gordon received word through sources that town staff were undertaking measures to install a silt barrier at the controversial development site on Wednesday morning.
“The alert that I got was that the Ministry of Environment (MOE) was notified of the activity on that site,” Gordon told MidlandToday. “As we all know, it is polluted; we don’t know how polluted. They were concerned that clearing activity was done without them being notified and that a silt fence was required.
“I got another anonymous-air-quotes-message yesterday that (town staff) didn’t do the silt fence properly, because it’s supposed to not just be on the surface; it’s supposed to be buried a bit to stop things from running underneath it,” said Gordon.
Silt fences or barriers are used for erosion and sediment control in protection measures for the environment. At the site, the backhoe was notably clearing out a slice of the surface area with an erected silt fence to its side; weather in the morning was above-freezing temperatures.
Midland Bay Landing (MBL) has been a contentious development site since the closing of an aggregate processing facility in 2012. Located along the Georgian Bay waterfront, concerns over its polluted status as a brownfield site has kept townsfolk fearful of contamination.
Earlier in the week, the presence of construction machinery, the placement of orange posts, and the relocation of large rocks were just some of the happenings inside the parking area at Bayshore Drive and William Street which prompted residents to contact Gordon.
It was enough for the councillor to make some inquiries of his own.
“It’s been very difficult to get information about it,” Gordon stated.
“I was able, at least, to find out why they put the stones there and those orange posts. But honestly when I asked them what they were doing with the digging and who was responsible for it it -- the Midland Bay Landing Development Corporation (MBLDC), which I assumed it was, but it turns out it isn’t, it’s the town -- I was told they had an opportune window to clear some land before the freeze sets in.”
Worries over the destination of the possibly-contaminated removed soil were also brought to Gordon’s attention.
In speaking with MidlandToday, Midland CAO David Denault stated he wasn’t surprised at the level of interest by townsfolk regarding the property, but urged that they watch the MBL meetings for information as well as continue to ask questions directly to the town for answers.
“With that work we did see that there were some exposed areas that presented (a bit of concern) so we went in to clean up some the grounds there,” Denault explained, “to clean up the facility, to make it ready, to make it safe.”
Denault noted that a risk assessment with the MOE had been part of operations as required since roughly 2019, and that it would be a topic as part of an upcoming MBL meeting.
“I think a lot of people assume it’s contaminated soil, which isn’t the case. I mean, it’s soil but it does have to get isolated at one of our facilities. And it will be tested, and we’ll take whatever additional remediation is required. (If there is contamination) then you do whatever’s required depending on the extent of the contamination.
“But that’s pretty standard work with anything we do,” Denault added. “When we’re working around a site that may have contamination, you have to: take it, isolate it, bring in the Ministry and do some testing, and get the go ahead.”
Gordon expressed frustration in not being kept up with the status of the project, as often councillors become the public face and first point of contact for residents to reach out for answers.
“That was my contentious issue with this,” Gordon noted, “is before they do stuff like this that they know is going to cause some public consternation, it would be helpful if they sent an email communique to council.”
Temperatures for the upcoming week are anticipated to hover around the freezing mark, and while that could be ideal for town staff to further engage in site activity, Denault thought differently.
“I think we’re getting ready to take care of the winter season, so that’s where our focus is now,” said Denault.
Information on Midland Bay Landing can be found on the Town of Midland website page.
