Magda Konieczna

Gas stations out to pasture

appeared in The Record August 27, 2005

When a gas station closes and the owners pack up and go, they usually leave behind a site contaminated with gasoline, a local environmental consultant says.

"Less than 10 per cent (of gas stations built before 1970) would not have any contamination," said Ron Donaldson, senior hydrogeologist at Water and Earth Sciences Associates Ltd., which conducts environmental assessments.

Waterloo Region is littered with vacant gas station sites, many of them in Kitchener. Many have sat empty for years. Some sites have absorbed varying amounts of gasoline that has leaked from old and rusty underground tanks.

On many of those sites, the contamination doesn't pose any risk. But about one in 10 are so dirty that gasoline could run into groundwater or even cause health problems for people who spend time on the site, Donaldson said.

The old Belmont Esso site, where Union Boulevard meets Belmont Avenue, has sat empty about three years.

As long as no contamination moves off the site and the owner is happy to keep paying property taxes -- which in 2004 would have cost Imperial Oil $6,600, given the vacant commercial tax rate for that year -- it can stay vacant forever.

The site is empty because a cleanup can cost a lot, possibly more than the site would sell for, according to Terry Boutilier, a senior planner with the City of Kitchener.

"(The site) has got absolutely fabulous potential for renewal given the commercial uses (in nearby Belmont Village)," he said.

Small cleanups can cost $10,000 or $20,000, but big ones can run into millions of dollars, said Hardeep Randhawa, a senior environmental officer at the Ministry of Environment.

City records indicate the Belmont Esso site is worth $232,000.

Although the city suspects the site is contaminated, it can't order Imperial Oil to clean it up. That's up to the Ministry of Environment and a private non-profit organization called the Technical Standards and Safety Association.

But the ministry only gets involved if contamination goes off the site or there's reason to believe it could cause environmental problems. The technical standards association deals only with operating stations.

Municipalities can't force the owner to redevelop the site, either.

"All economic development activity requires co-operation of the owner," Boutilier said.

"We can do great things together, but if the owner simply is not interested, then we can't do anything."

* * *

The situation is frustrating for residents of the Pinegrove community in Kitchener, not far from where King Street East (old Highway 8) meets the 401.

About eight gas stations have operated in the area over the last 40 years. At least one leaked into the ground.

Most Pinegrove residents use private wells, so they're particularly worried about ground water contamination.

So far, none of their wells have been contaminated. But the community association is also worried about abandoned wells in the area, which are especially vulnerable because their open shafts make it easier for contaminants to leak into the groundwater.

"Most people who are on city services take it for granted. You turn on the tap and there comes the water," said resident Bob McColl, who has been involved in the Pinegrove lobbying effort.

* * *

There are some vacant gas station success stories, though.

John Bergen is at the heart of one of them. He opened City Café about five years ago on a Kitchener site that used to be a gas station but had been empty for about 20 years. He likes the site's prominent location at Victoria and Strange streets and likes the building itself.

Bergen says he's not really concerned about what lurks under his blacktop.

"I never asked questions," he said. "I don't know."

He's pretty sure that there is some kind of contamination. But he thinks a café is the best thing that could happen to the site, which could have instead become a used car lot. He plans to open several more cafés at old gas stations.

"Something like this will change a neighbourhood. A used car lot won't," he said.

* * *

The problem of vacant gas stations is not limited to Waterloo Region, said Petro Canada spokesperson Jon Hamilton. Gas station owners across the country have been packing it in, he said.

"You used to have a station on every corner. You could put up two gas bars and a small kiosk and make a decent return," he said.

"Now the margin of return is so low that a small site cannot sustain itself."

So while larger stations with space for a car wash or a convenience store have survived, many smaller sites have shut down, Hamilton said.

* * *

The growing number of vacant sites means a frustrating situation for cities such as Kitchener, which has 19 vacant sites on the books.

That's the reason behind a program that encourages redevelopment of abandoned industrial and commercial sites. It lets the city return the cost of a cleanup to the owner of a dirty site by lowering property taxes.

Under that program, the city has initiated a cleanup of the old Canadian Blower and Forge site on Woodside Avenue, now slated to become a condominium complex, as well as the old Arrow shirt factory on Benton Street, which is being turned into loft apartments.

"You get the site cleaned up. You get a vacant piece of land developed, you get additional housing, and we get a whole lot of tax dollars," Boutilier said.

Several Kitchener gas stations have also been successfully redeveloped. The new Tim Hortons at the corner of Frederick and Lancaster streets used to be a gas station. An A&W fast-food restaurant at River Road and Victoria Street is on the site of an old, previously contaminated station. A vacant gas station at the corner of Ottawa and Weber streets is now a car wash that does detailing, and another at the corner of Charles Street and Borden Avenue is now a Tim Hortons.

In Waterloo and Cambridge, it's a different story.

"Land is such a hot commodity in Waterloo that contamination issues haven't been a barrier to buyers," said Ron Ormson, an environmental co-ordinator for the City of Waterloo.

Waterloo has not offered any incentives yet. If sites were languishing, though, that city could speed up the redevelopment application process and waive some of the costs.

Cambridge has an incentive program in its downtown, which lets the city return some of the cost of a cleanup to property owners. But gas stations aren't a particular problem there, according to Alain Pinard, Cambridge's director of policy planning.

* * *

Bergen's plan to open cafés on old gas station sites should improve a number of urban blights. He did a lot to improve the current City Café site, fixing up the building and sealing in contamination by paving the grounds.

Most importantly, City Café doesn't threaten further contamination.

"The worst we can do is spill some canola oil," Bergen said with a chuckle.