MURF Molson Park Orillia
Dec 25th, 2008 | By Debbie Vitez | Section: About Trichloroethylene, better known as TCE.From:Ken Szijarto
From: Gmail
To: debbie@cambridgevoice.ca
Sent: Wednesday, December 24, 2008 12:29 PM
Subject: Bishop St TCE
From 1989-1992 I owned a home at 1485 Concession Rd. Where exactly is the property in question, the source of the TCE contamination?
Our neighbours, on the corner of Conc and Bishop both developed cancers. The husband was a firefighter and we discussed the health risks for fireman. Maybe their illnesses were do to this contamination?
Right now the city of Orillia is planning to build an new rec facility on land it purchased for $1 from Molson’s, which is similarly contaminated.
http://www.orilliapacket.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1361801
http://www.orilliapacket.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1359896
Ken Szijarto
Ramara Tsp, ON
ken.szijarto@gmail.com
http://cambridgevoice.ca/archives/the-deadly-side-effects-of-tce
/
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The MURF: A brief history by:
Ken Szijarto
Ramara Tsp, ON
A timeline tracing the progress of the troubled Multi-Use Recreation Facility proposal
Since the word “MURF” first entered the Orillia lexicon, The Packet & Times has published more than 1,000 articles and letters on the subject. The struggle to build a recreation complex for the city has become the single-longest running controversy in Orillia’s history. Orillia City Council is taking another version of its risk assessment back to the Ministry of Environment for another kick at the can in hopes of getting a certificate that will allow the city to proceed with construction. The community should have the ministry’s response by mid to late summer.
What follows is a summary of key moments along the road that brought us to the current situation:
November 2000
Pete Bowen, chair of the recreation advisory committee, asks citizens to list what they need in a future recreation facility.
“We need a detailed description… and it has to be fact-based. Not whimsy.”
December 2000
Hockey dad Glen Connor says the 36-acre former Otaco factory site owned by Molson would be perfect for a recreation facility.
“It’s central. It’s on a main four-lane artery. Transit’s already there. And it’s got the old railway right-of-way there, so it could be joined to the trail system.”
Downtown businessman Ralph Cipolla likes the idea: “The (West Street South) location is fabulous.”
February 2001
In a meeting arranged by Ralph Cipolla, Mayor Ron Stevens meets with Ray Sriubiskis, a Molson sales promotion director, to discuss the West Street South site.
“Anything’s possible,” says Sriubiskis, noting Molson has donated property in other communities.
May 2002
dmA Planning and Management Services releases a report that advises a $18.7-million MURF should have a 25-metre pool, twin pad arena, full-size gymnasium, large, divisible multi-purpose space, two ball diamonds, four soccer fields and four tennis courts.
October 2002
City politicians endorse a plan for an $18.7-million MURF.
December 2002
Council unanimously accepts the transfer of a West Street South site from Molson for $1 in exchange for a tax receipt worth about $450,000. The city relies on Molson’s environmental study, carried out by consultants Shaheen & Peaker, and doesn’t commission its own probe.
April 2003
Molson officially hands over deed of the 36-acre site to the city. “This moment has been a dream for years for the citizens of Orillia, and we’re in the final process now of getting the complex built,” Mayor Ron Stevens says.
August 2003
The city hires consultants Shaheen & Peaker to start working on the West Street South project.
September 2003
Talk of a $45-million facility at West Street South raises alarm bells as city officials try to allay concern.
“We all know that no councillor sitting at that table is going to go for that figure,” says Coun. Ken McLaughlin.
September 2003
Council defers a decision to direct an architectural firm to prepared a detailed design for a $47-million MURF amid concerns over the rising price tag. Some councillors wonder why a new Barrie recreation complex - which includes two ice pads, swimming pool, training pool, gymnasium and activity rooms - cost less than $20 million to build.
October 2003
Council approves spending $200,000 to direct the architectural firm Shore Tilbe Irwin & Partners to start work on the MURF project. The proposed facilities include a twin-pad arena, swimming pool, gymnasium, indoor track and about $10 million worth of outdoor facilities, including eight tennis courts, two soccer fields, basketball courts, a skateboard park and an outdoor skating trail.
April 2004
Councillors express dismay that Molson’s report on the site, in the city’s hands before the land transfer, hasn’t been made public. “We have been kept in the dark too long,” says Coun. Francis Smith. City manager Ian Brown tells Smith there’s nothing to be gained by another soil probe on the property, which has been regularly tested since 1992: “That property is a pin cushion.”
May 2004
Council approves amenities of the MURF, giving Shore Tilbe Irwin & Partners a green light to proceed with detailed drawings. Councillors George Morano and Francis Smith express concern about contamination on the brownfield. Tim Lauer fails to convince his colleagues to take more time in examining the project.
May 2004
Molson says the decision to keep its environmental study under wraps for two years was a legal precaution. “There was no real reason it was kept confidential other than legal precautionary measures,” says David Jones, Molson’s director of public affairs.
June 2004
City council forms a brand-new committee made up of city officials - and no citizens - to oversee design and construction of the MURF. The citizen-driven committee is disbanded.
“The buck stops with council,” says Coun. Ralph Cipolla. “We have the decisions to make, we are responsible to the taxpayers and nobody else.”
August 2004
A dozen concerned citizens protest a plan to truck 40,000 tonnes of contaminated soil from the West Street South brownfield to the city’s landfill.
September 2004
The city’s environmental advisory committee urges council to save a wetland on the site from excavation. “It’s a natural, active ecosystem, and it could be a natural enhancement for the whole area to have a wetland there,” says committee member Bob Bowles.
November 2004
The city releases a Shaheen & Peaker study detailing high levels of volatile organic compounds, including vinyl chloride, in the area slated for excavation.
Amid protesters, city council awards a $1.7-million contract to begin site preparation on the West Street South site, setting in motion the plan to fill in the wetland and truck 40,000 tonnes of contaminated soil to the lakeside landfill on Kitchener Street.
As construction crews start digging, watchdog group the Citizens’ Coalition files an injunction at the Barrie courthouse to stop the work.
The public forum hosted by the city to address the project’s environmental concerns and dispel “rumours” is interrupted when police are called to deal with Citizens’ Coalition members placing counter-information signs around the meeting room.
A group of conservation and turtle experts work to rescue dozens of turtles from the West Street South swamp. “We’re hoping to probe down into the mud, get (the turtles), put them in tanks, transfer them over to Tudhope Park and save their lives,” says Bob Bowles, director of the Twin Lakes Conservation Club.
Later the same month, council moves ahead with the excavation despite a plea from the environmental advisory committee. “At the 11th hour I don’t like their chances. The process has gone too far to make this happen,” Mayor Ron Stevens says.
Environmentalist Kelly Clune blasts city council after it nixed a last-minute bid to save a pond on the MURF site.
“It’s shameful,” Clune yells across the council chamber after the decision. “You had an opportunity to make a difference, boys…. What a bunch of lame ducks.”
December 2004
The Citizens’ Coalition maintains MURF soil tests were contrived to keep results below hazardous levels by mixing good samples with bad. Peter Dance, the city’s director of public works, says the composite soil tests, which indicate the soil excavated from the site is non-hazardous, give a reasonable overall picture of the levels of contamination.
February 2005
In an open letter to Orillians, Mayor Ron Stevens tries to allay concerns about contamination on the MURF site.
“The taxpayers of Orillia can be confident that city council and staff are taking every precaution to ensure the MURF site will be safe, and that the facilities both in and around the site will provide generations of enjoyment and wellness opportunities for all citizens.”
March 2005
The Ministry of the Environment suggests more tests and safeguards are needed to protect human health and nature on the MURF site.
A seven-page document provides comments from ministry staff on the city’s risk assessment pre-submission form.
The ministry questions soil sample methods, a composite technique of blending dirt.
April 2005
Mayor Ron Stevens says following the province’s new brownfield rules could delay construction of the MURF by up to a year - and possibly raise the project’s $47-million price tag.
“The risk assessment study is a rather long process, and we’re looking at some time delays on (the project). There’s no question about that.”
City officials had hoped to start construction on the property in June with a goal of opening the MURF’s doors by spring 2007.
May 2005
Prime Minister Paul Martin says the MURF project may be eligible for federal assistance because a former factory on the contaminated site manufactured military equipment during the Second World War.
“We can’t really ask other people to clean up their sites if the federal government isn’t prepared to clean up sites where it had an involvement.”
August 2005
During a meeting with the 11-member public liaison committee, Shaheen & Peaker, helping design the now $49-million project, insist the industrial site can be developed without exposing people to toxic chemicals in soil and groundwater.
Derek Ford, a retired university professor and hydrogeologist, warns vinyl chloride gas found in high concentrations under the building footprint is poisonous and highly flammable at low temperatures.
Derek Ford urges the city to move the proposed MURF building footprint away from vinyl chloride concentrations 80,000 times higher than provincial guidelines. “It seems quite obvious to me to shift the thing.”
The Ministry of the Environment orders the city to submit a revised plan to deal with contamination on the MURF site.
“The (ministry) is doing their job, and this just reaffirms the commitment that both the city and the (ministry) have in ensuring the site is developed in a safe manner,” Mayor Ron Stevens states in a press release.
The Ministry of the Environment orders the city to do more testing to see how far an underground plume of contaminants is flowing off the West Street South site.
Drilling and groundwater testing done so far is inadequate to accurately define the extent of contamination, the ministry writes in a letter to the city.
September 2005
Councillors George Morano and Francis Smith propose abandoning West Street South and advocate looking at other sites.
“Let’s look at relocating… onto another site that’s not contaminated,” Morano says.
“We need to look at options or we’ll never get a MURF,” says Smith. “Before we know it, there’ll be a new council and God knows what will happen.”
The Ministry of the Environment says the city can proceed with the project’s on-site risk assessment before completing a second assessment dealing with contaminants already offsite.
Mayor Ron Stevens sees the development as positive: “It gives us the ability to move forward.”
November 2005
Ontario’s environmental commissioner says the City of Orillia should have involved the public more fully in the development of its MURF.
“The perceived lack of information and lack of consultation has generated concern and suspicions within the community,” Gord Miller writes in a 225-page annual report.
Council decides to budget $750,000 to treat a vinyl chloride hot spot on the MURF site, using a proposed treatment called enhanced chemical oxidation. Gartner Lee consultant Bob Leech estimates the contaminant mass can be reduced by 80 per cent within eight months.
It’s later discovered the method won’t work on the site. Council abandons the cleanup plan.
January 2006
The MURF fundraising committee asks the city for $130,000 to extend its campaign, set back by delays relating to the $49-million project’s environmental issues.
“This delay has had an impact on fundraising activities, which are normally tied to construction timeframes,” city treasurer Bob Ripley tells council.
The team working to delineate the spread of contamination on the MURF site locates “free phase,” or undiluted, vinyl chloride under the proposed building footprint. “We know where it is and it can be dealt with,” Mayor Ron Stevens says.
February 2006
$60 million could be the price of Orillia’s future MURF, says Coun. Tim Lauer. “This project is no longer a $50-million project, but closer to a $60-million project.”
Coun. Wayne Gardy disputes Lauer’s estimate, arguing council’s “intention on the project in real dollars was $49 million.”
March 2006
A group of downtown Orillia business owners launches a campaign to promote the MURF’s economic benefits. Posters with the slogan “MURF…coming in 2008″ go up in shop windows.
April 2006
The Ministry of the Environment tells the city it must resubmit the project’s risk assessment, saying too much information in the report, prepared by Shaheen & Peaker, is inadequate or out-of-date.
May 2006
Council meets behind closed doors to discuss the ministry’s report on the risk assessment.
“We need to get responses back from our consulting engineers, and there’s simply no way that we’re going to bring it up at this point in time,” Mayor Ron Stevens says.
May 2006
City council welcomes a federal government loan worth up to $1.3 million to help deal with contaminants on the MURF site.
Council, staff and consultants meet with ministry officials to talk about options for dealing with contamination source-control methods. Bob Leech, a consultant with Gartner Lee, says the ministry would prefer full removal of contaminants, but he maintains it’s very costly and not viable.
Encapsulation, a technology pegged at $2.5 million, is the way to go, Leech advises.
City and ministry officials dispute the meaning of a paragraph in a Sept. 15, 2005, letter advising contaminants already offsite can be dealt with separately from the risk assessment. City officials maintain the ministry led them to believe the offsite impacts of contamination still on the site could be addressed independently, a misinterpretation that led to the April rejection of the key document. Coun. Doug Downey argues the ministry is changing its position “in midstream,” which “has a huge impact on this project.”
Ministry official Ian Mitchell says the statement has been misinterpreted: “We haven’t changed our position.”
June 2006
MURF critic Allan Millard says a news release issued by the city in May has damaged his reputation. He launches a libel suit.
“It’s something, of course, the city has been trying to do for some time, which is denigrate me,” Millard says.
August 2006
Council opts to shift the MURF footprint away from the West Street site’s most contaminated spot after a consultant says it’s unlikely the ministry will approve the plan otherwise.
Bob Leech of Gartner Lee says the ministry seems to have a “zero tolerance” attitude toward contamination below buildings on brownfields. The cost of moving is estimated at $1.5 million.
October 2006
Mayor Ron Stevens reiterates his faith in the MURF site during a municipal election campaign mayoral debate.
“Until it can be proven that this site cannot be built on, I will continue to maintain that this is the best possible location for a municipal project of this size and stature.”
November 2006
Ron Stevens is re-elected mayor, but Francis Smith loses his seat and blames it on his anti-MURF stance, while George Morano retires. 4 newcomers - Joe Fecht, Maurice McMillan, Michael Fogarty and Don Evans - are thrown into the mix with veterans.
The 2006-10 council is divided on many aspects of the MURF project.
January 2007
Health Promotion Minister Jim Watson travels to Orillia to announce $4 million in funding for the $50-million MURF project. “The MURF facility, from what I’ve read, is going to be such a tremendous addition, not only to the community, but the surrounding communities,” Watson says.
A revised construction estimate sees the estimated cost of the MURF project ramped up to $55 million, surpassing the previous project price tag by $5 million.
Cr. Tim Lauer pushes council to consider scaling down the project. Cr. Paul Spears responds that the plan has been subject to public consultation. “The community has agreed that this it what they want,” Spears says.
Despite a $57-million budget request, councillors choose not to scale back the MURF project, arguing the best time to look at cost is during the tendering process.
“We’re all in favour of reducing costs, but we want to wait until we get the actual tender price,” Cr. Ralph Cipolla says.
February 2007
Council approves a $1.1-million plan to make the MURF more energy efficient and environmentally friendly under a program called Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED).
“It would be foolish for us not to do this,” Cr. Ralph Cipolla says. “Especially with all the negativism that has come with the MURF project.”
May 2007
Cr. Michael Fogarty is furious about a $100,000 overrun in Shaheen & Peaker consulting fees for the MURF project.
“It’s unimaginable,” Fogarty says, referring to a bill of $169,353.74 for work that a June estimate suggested would cost between $60,000 and $70,000.
As of this month, the city has paid environmental and geotechnical consultants $1.17 million. The total cost for the project is $5.6 million.
Mayor Ron Stevens says he’s “very disappointed” the Ministry of the Environment has returned the MURF risk assessment back to the city for more revisions.
June 2007
Coun. Michael Fogarty pushes for an independent review of the MURF process, now estimated to cost $58 million. “It’s a win-win situation,” Fogarty says before council rejects the bid in a 6-3 recorded vote.
July 2007
Council, in a 7-2 recorded vote, approves a $40,000 work plan for consultants to submit to the Ministry of the Environment a revised risk assessment.
“I’m a lot more confident now than I was before,” Coun. Ralph Cipolla says. “We met with the ministry (and) they gave us some really positive reaction on what we were doing.”
November 2007
City sends the MURF risk assessment to the ministry for the 3rd time, hoping to have a response by the end of December.
The city opts for “natural attenuation,” or letting nature take its course, to address contaminants flowing off the site.
February 2008
A capital plan approved by council during budget deliberations to finance $95 million in projects, including the MURF, will put the city $45.4 million in debt by 2011. “The bottom line is we have now got out of debt… but we also recognize today that, if we’re going to have the amenities that we need to have here, then we’re going to have to go into debt to do it,” Mayor Ron Stevens says.
Cr. Don Evans says he regrets voting in favour of a $5.5-million budget increase for the MURF, taking the project to the $63.4-million mark.
“I happen to be very uncomfortable with the further expenditure,” Evans says.
March 2008
More than 200 citizens show up for a two-hour town hall meeting at Twin Lakes Secondary School organized by a group of project critics to discuss rising costs.
Citizens sound a clear alarm over the $63.4-million price tag.
In an interview with The Packet & Times, Allan Millard explains why the city needs an independent judicial inquiry into the MURF project and speaks about his 30-page essay on the topic.
“I am trying to achieve something positive for the people of Orillia by drawing attention to the serious mistakes and mismanagement,” Millard says.
Molson rejects any responsibility for environmental problems on the MURF site. The 2002 deal saddled the city with all environmental liabilities and gave Molson naming and tap rights.
“I don’t see why we would have any moral obligations on that front, either, knowing that the contamination was not a result of our operation,” spokesperson Marie-Helen Lagace says.
March 2008
During a deputation before about 150 people at city hall, a contingent of project proponents urges council to press on with its plan to build the MURF on the West Street South site.
“I’m disappointed that it takes so long for adults to agree about something for Orillia,” Ben Jack, 10, tells council.
Council gives final approval to a $5.5-million MURF budget escalation. Mayor Ron Stevens knows the Ministry of the Environment has returned the risk assessment for more revisions, but he doesn’t share that information with council. Councillors don’t find that out from city manager Ian Brown until a day after the budget vote.
The city releases to the pubic the Ministry of the Environment’s comments directing more revisions on the city’s 3rd submission of the risk assessment.
“Naturally, you’re disappointed when you put as much in it as I have and have this happen,” Mayor Ron Stevens says. “But it doesn’t mean it’s finished.”
Among its comments, the ministry says “natural attenuation” can’t be counted on to prevent contaminants from flowing offsite.
April 2008
A group of citizens presents to council the results of 153 questionnaires, distributed mostly during a March 6 town hall meeting. A majority of respondents oppose the city’s MURF plan. Jocelyn LoSole-Stringer, 10, says she’s concerned about contamination: “Some people think that we do not want the MURF at all, but the truth is that we want it, just not on that site. So, my suggestion is to build it somewhere safe.”
Council directs consultants to seek clarification from ministry officials on their comments and report back with a work plan, schedule and cost estimate for necessary revisions. Councillors Tim Lauer, Michael Fogarty and Don Evans oppose the move, arguing they need more information before making a decision.
THE MURF PLAN
West Street South (36 acres)
• Rec Centre (more than 172,000 square feet)
• 25m, 8-lane swimming pool
• leisure/ teaching pool
• hot therapy pool
• water slide and toddler play area
• Olympic-size ice surface with
• seating for 1,117
• NHL-size ice surface with seating for 302
• indoor walking track
• gymnasium ( 9,000 square feet)
• multi-purpose rooms ( 3,000 sq ft and 1,000 sq ft)
• seniors centre (3,000 square feet)
• office area ( 1,500 square feet)
• 4 ball diamonds
• 8 tennis courts
• multi-use court
• skateboard area
• 594-metre refrigerated skating trail
• adventure playground
Kitchener Park
• 3 large soccer pitches
• 4 junior soccer pitches
• 2 mini soccer pitches
• concession and change room building
MURF actual costs (to Feb. 27, 2008) – Pre-Construction
• Construction: $2,118,315
• Architect team fees: $1,958,509
• Environmental/ geotechnical fees: $1,336,575
• Kitchener Park Design/Construction: $30,875
• Miscellaneous consulting: $469,327
• Licences/permits/legal fees: $231,757
• Administrative overhead: $30,681
• LEED fees: $130,779
• Communications Mini-Plan: $5,980
Total: $6,312,798
MURF budget breakdown
• Recreation centre building: $40,000,000
• Surcharging and environmental costs: $5,100,000
• Park component: $9,900,000
• Kitchener Park redevelopment: $1,100,000
o Consulting fees
o furnishings, permits,
o legal costs: $7,100,000
Total: $63,400,000
• In 2007, the city budgeted $750,000 for offsite environmental investigations.
• In 2008, $480,000 was added for the work.
Copyright © 2008 The Orillia Packet & Times
Ken Szijarto
Thank you for your submission…
I have contacted Allan Millard and asked him to post here as well
We in Cambridge need to see this process…
and Orillia needs to see the health issues we have in Preston.
I am at 62 and counting and that’s only a one block radius.