This blog post is intended to help share information about the upcoming community-led townhall. While the HSCA is not organizing the event, we are holding space at our facility to support open dialogue on this issue of importance to a resident group.

Guest Blog: Submitted by Helen Henderson

Bring your questions, concerns, and experiences to a townhall addressing the ongoing issue of creosote contamination in our neighbourhood.

Parts of West Hillhurst sit on deposits of the chemical that have seeped under the river from the site of a former wood-preserving plant on the south side of the river as seen below.

Creosote is a known carcinogen, and the problem has proven tricky to resolve. There are dozens of monitoring wells on both sides of the river, including in Broadview Park.

A creosote remediation facility (below) is located on the south side of the river to actively reduce the creosote levels in that area. No such remediation is taking place in our neighbourhood, where existing homes are already built.

Area residents asked that existing contamination be addressed in the Riley Local Area Plan to ensure public health and wellness were protected. There was no response to our requests and our comments weren't included in reports out of engagement sessions.

There's a lot of development planned for the area, including on the contaminated former CBC site (below). Plans to dig a parkade on the site mean the creosote below could well be disturbed.

A paper from the Environmental Law Centre talks about how complex building on contaminated land is, especially where the city and province share jurisdiction. It warns about a "lack of regulation of risk management through exposure control at contaminated sites in Alberta". Right now there are no existing city policies to regulate or monitor the creosote vapour release from the proposed development on the old CBC site for example.

There hasn't been a public meeting to address the contamination since 2018. Given we've had no luck as individuals getting answers, we're gathering as a community to seek accountability.

Please join us on Tuesday June 24 in the Hearth Room at the HSCA community centre from 7:15-8:30. We expect to have representatives from City Council and Administration as well as from Alberta Environment.

Your involvement is crucial in demonstrating to every level of government that our neighbourhood deserves attention and solutions.