265 replies to this topic

[G-Man]

They hauled the dirt away a couple of years ago. I just want to know what it wouls have to do with PCL.

[aastra]

That was the site of their old garage.

[Icebergalley]

Some of the dirt... probably the hottest spots.... a couple of summers ago...

Quantum Environmental was working that site until a couple of weeks ago... and as I understand it hauling the topmost layers to their remediation site up-island...

[Holden West]

Some of the contaminated soil was from the days when PCL stored buses there. Other soil is contaminated because it's old polluted muck dredged from the Inner Harbour.

[aastra]

I wanted to post the rendering of that Delta Royal Victoria hotel but I can't find the darned thing. Does anybody have it?

[Icebergalley]

Do we have a thread to rehash failed projects...

or, talk about the difficulties developers faced when the contaminated sites act was proclaimed

or, the challenges of developing brownfield sites...

or the lack of serious site investigations and developer risk..

[zoomer]

Do we have a thread to rehash failed projects...

or, talk about the difficulties developers faced when the contaminated sites act was proclaimed

or, the challenges of developing brownfield sites...

or the lack of serious site investigations and developer risk..

that would be a really long thread title...

aastra, here's what the interior would have looked like:



[url=http://mitchellfreedland.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/proj.details/projectID/65A67E79-9822-E137-B2199670EA0732F0/ID/1/index.cfm:5a21f]a bit more here[/url:5a21f]

[renthefinn]

It's hard to pin contamination on a certain company or individual, but if it's likely that it could be proven, it's cheaper for them to clean it up than to fight it in court for a couple of years and then have to pay triple what it costs to clean it up. It's not cheap to clean it up either consider it's probably 5-35% of the land cost depending on the contamination. In extreme cases it could be close to 100% of the current market value, but that is only likely in former heavy industrial sites (dockside, DND lands, Rockbay, etc for those types of areas).

[Holden West]

I think what made Aria difficult was that it was small amounts but it was all over the place, unlike a gas station where the contamination is more concentrated.

[renthefinn]

Most contamination spreads with the natural ground water flow regimine. Similar to what is seen at a gas station. The Aria site had more industrial uses identified in it's past, and like you say it was spread out, but it was one of the most contaminated sites in the city. Hence why it took so long before it was developable!

[D.L.]

Here's the failed Delta Royal Victoria, from Douglas St.

[G-Man]

I think we dodged a bullet with Aria being built instead of this. I mean Aria is just far nicer a building.

As for soil remdiation I think the worst site in Vic has to be the gas station leak in Cordova Bay that they have been cleaning up for 10 years. The oil is leaching all the way down to the water.

[zoomer]

I actually like the looks of that all glass beauty…except it’s another block long fatscraper. A scooped out lower mid-section and a more inspired roof and it would have been pretty cool.

[aastra]

I think it was a good design. It's not marred by an excessive number of balconies. Also, the top floors are different from the next couple of floors down, which are different again from the next seven floors, which are different again from the podium. That's excellent.

It also looks quite different from the broad side than it does from the edge side. And even the broad side has some variation in it at the far end there.

As zoomer says, it's too wide. But other than that, I think it deserves a very high mark.

[Baro]

What's so bad about contaminated soil, and how bad does it have to be for them to have to do something about it? In more minor cases, why not just skim the top, pave/landscape it over, and forget about it? It's not like people are eating it or farming on it. But I really don't know anything about this issue. What ARE the rules and reasons behind this expensive work?

[rayne_k]

What's so bad about contaminated soil, and how bad does it have to be for them to have to do something about it? In more minor cases, why not just skim the top, pave/landscape it over, and forget about it? It's not like people are eating it or farming on it. But I really don't know anything about this issue. What ARE the rules and reasons behind this expensive work?

Becuase groundwater flows through the contaminants, and they can end up where it shouldn't be (carried by groundwater flow). When contaminated soils are dumped they usually get dumped into pits that have been lined with low-permeability materials to prevent leaching, and are then sealed.

I'm sure someone more familiar with the rules can give some other reasons but this is the one that springs to my mind.

[ressen]

Or just plain dumped on Indian reservations.

[G-Man]

Oh yeah I saw that on the news about a month ago. That was pretty brutal.

[Icebergalley]

Yes, but, is supposed to have met the Federal disposal regulations... on federally regulated land..?

Unless that was mis-information..

"Dirty Dirt" doesn't come in all the same varieties, potencies or blends...

Think Milk.... - 1 % milk, 2 % milk, Skim Milk.. homogenized milk.. milk with the cream on the top.. if you can recall that from ancient times.. chocolate milk anyone..?

[Holden West]

[url=http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/capital_van_isl/story.html?id=afd31dd8-80bf-4151-949b-82cb7e6e0120&k=8710&p=1:0e687]Soil dumped on Metchosin reserve worries residents[/url:0e687]

...the soil was rated usable for commercial or industrial purposes but not for residential use. The soil apparently came from three Victoria sites, including Point Hope Shipyard...