City of Hamilton taking steps to address contaminated soil in Centennial Heights Park

HAMILTON, ON – In August, the City of Hamilton’s hired consultant, Terraprobe, began preconstruction investigations at Centennial Heights Park as part of a park upgrades project. This included soil testing in alignment with routine provincial regulations related to on-site and excess soil management. Sample results provided last week found evidence of mercury, zinc, cadmium and lead within the soil that are above the provincial standard for parkland. While the condition of the park poses very little risk to public health, the City felt it important share details regarding the discovery and next steps to address the soil conditions.

The consultant reported the soil test results to the City on August 9, and did a second test on August 17, with results delivered on August 26 to confirm that soils across the park have exceedances to ministry parkland standards for mercury, zinc, lead and cadmium. 

At this time, on the counsel of the consultant’s Qualified Professional, Public Health Services and Hamilton Water staff, the general consensus is that that the condition of the park poses very little risk to public health, as contaminants within the soil are not readily available, nor likely to move through the landscape. City staff have informed the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) of the soil quality.

Based on historical data, the City has determined that this site has remained untouched since at least 1995 and routine water monitoring of nearby municipal wells continues to show zero detection of contaminants. While private wells are the responsibility of the property owner, as always, the City reminds residents who own private wells to routinely check the water quality of their wells. The City has not detected contaminants in nearby City wells or have received reports from private property owners of contaminant findings.

The City will continue to keep the public and MECP updated on measures taken to address contaminated soil on the property and will inform residents if it is determined that they should take any necessary precautions. At this time, the City is not advising residents to take such action.

A project webpage with details regarding the construction and investigative work can be found by visiting www.hamilton.ca/CentennialHeights.