August 12, 2008

TERRY TINKESS

These buildings will be demolished to make way for new retail and commercial development in Cornwall’s core.

Development group reveals plans for former Domtar site in Cornwall

TERRY TINKESS

Correspondent

Cornwall residents who attended an information session August 6, 2008 got a first-hand look at how a large, private retail developer plans on remediating a large brownfield site near the city core.

North American Development Group plans to turn a former Domtar construction materials site into a prime retail location. The information session was held to inform the public about how the property will be remediated and what type of development it will eventually contain.

The site was previously used in the production of the company’s No-Co-Rode Pipe, which resulted in significant coal tar contamination of the property.

The Cornwall development, which is identified on the North American Development Group Web site as Circle Square encompasses just over 24 acres just east of Brookdale Avenue, one of the community’s main traffic arteries.

Conceptual drawings indicate a building area of 241,500 square feet spread over 13 buildable envelopes. There will be parking (tentatively) for more than 1,200 cars.

The project received conditional approval from the city’s planning advisory committee (PAC) in October 2007 and later from city council. The city has contributed financially to the project through its Brownfield Community Improvement Plan.

Approximately 92,000 cubic metres of impacted soil, debris and building demolition materials are expected to be removed from the site.

This might seem like a substantial amount of material, but according to Francois La Forge of Conestoga Rovers and Associates, the engineering firm contracted by North American Development Group to oversee remediation, the conditions on the site are relatively good.

“You’re talking about excavation of only two metres and I think 15 feet in one location,” says La Forge. “We’re lucky that the geology we’ve got right now is such that it’s an impermeable layer. We’ve got some sites where it’s 100 feet of sand.

“We’re using a relatively low-tech method to clean it up: backhoe and dumpsters to remove the material. It’s complete and it’s easy too — you excavate, you collect confirmatory soil samples at the base to make sure you have everything, you bring in clean material and you move on to the next sector. It’s easy, relatively economical, and there’s no guesswork with it.”

Anthony Crutcher, P. Eng, who is the project supervisor for Conestoga-Rovers says that this particular Brownfield site was selected for a couple reasons.

“The concept of developing this site came about because the City of Cornwall came up with a Brownfield funding program, which essentially helps fund the remediation of impacted sites,” says Crutcher. “A combination of that, and a local developer approaching Domtar and asking if they would be interested in remediating this site is what got it started.

“Within the City of Cornwall Brownfield sites, they targeted this one as a prime site for development and applying their Brownfields plan. They ultimately took it forward to a larger developer who I’m employed by, which is North American Development Group. They hired our firm and took it forward and asked us to go through the Brownfield funding, do the investigation on the site and see if can get it into a developable form. That’s where we are today.”

Crutcher says that the time frame for the project would see all remediation work completed by the spring-summer of 2009, with actual development to follow. Alternatively, sections of the site could be cleaned, receive certification and then be ready for development.

According to Crutcher, all the involved parties are anxious to get thing started.

“This is sort of a marquee-type project. It’s a large project, it’s going through full Brownfield funding,” says Crutcher. “It’s not just the city; the province is involved, the developer, the owner of the site, and they are all working like a partnership to make this happen.”

Print | Email | Comment