Contamination confirmed at Barber House site

But that doesn’t mean it’s time to panic: City

Test results for a patch of land in North Point Douglas have come back positive for lead and other heavy metal contaminants.

But a spokesperson for the City said that doesn’t mean residents should pack up and move.

“It’s not time to panic,” said Ray Klassen, spokesperson for the planning and property department.

The Phase II test results of the environmental assessment being done at the Barber House historical site confirm higher than recommended concentrations of lead and other heavy metals.

But Klassen said it appears the contamination did not come as a result of something in or around the site itself.

“The contamination appears to have resulted from extraneous fill brought in from another location, and it does show lead contamination.”

Klassen said the contamination does not continue down to the natural grade level of the soil at the site.

Klassen would not say where the extraneous fill had been transported from, nor would he talk about possible next steps except to say the City is in talks with the Province to consider their options.

He did say, however, that the City is fully committed to finding an economically viable solution to allow a proposed project on the site to go ahead.

Last year, SISTARS Community Economic Development Inc. released an ambitious $3.2-million plan to rehabilitate the historic Barber House site, the first house built in Winnipeg.

Plans call for the restoration of the house, along with adding a day care, laundromat, learning centre, small cafe and other amenities.

The house was restored about 15 years ago, only to be gutted in an arson.

The project was put on hold after preliminary environmental testing showed levels of lead, zinc and copper in the ground exceeded commercial and residential human health contact standards.

After the initial story ran in The Times, current and former area residents came forward about finding chunks of lead in their property and speculated that old foundries in the area may have contaminated all of North Point Douglas.

But Klassen said the testing at the Barber House site has nothing to do with other areas of the neighbourhood, and said if further contamination is found on other sites, that is the responsibility of the Province, not the City.

A spokesperson from Manitoba Conservation was not available before press deadline.

Klassen said he expects to speak with the group in the next few weeks, once the details have been decided on.

Olive Wreggitt, chair of the SISTARS project, refused to comment.