New soil and ground water testing will be performed at a former scrap yard at the 1200 block of S. Railway Street this year, according to Alberta Infrastructure, which is responsible for the contaminated site that has no legal owner.--News Photo Collin Gallant
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant
New work is planned to clean up a former junk yard in Medicine Hat that has no owner, the News has learned.
Alberta Infrastructure plans to conduct another environmental survey this fall toward an eventual cleanup effort of the former Hat Salvage site at 1248 and 1272 S. Railway Street.
Those lots have been in limbo since a cleanup effort in the late 2000s ended, but the corporation liable for the site was dissolved after the only director died.
The City of Medicine Hat even refused to seize the former Hat salvage site for back taxes in 2015, noting that any potential auction price would not cover the costs of cleaning up heavy metal contamination near the Seven Persons Creek.
This month the weather-beaten green plywood fence that encircled the former scrap yard was taken down and replaced with new snow fence.
Alberta Infrastructure informed the News it has taken over management of the site from Alberta Parks and Environment under regulations for unclaimed property in the province.
The fencing issue is one of securing the site, but new soil and groundwater testing at the site is planned to take place in 2021, according to a ministry spokesperson.
