The Canadian Urban Institute’s Brownie Awards have recently been awarded in Niagara Falls, Ontario. The CUI has led the way in bringing attention to outstanding work in the areas of environmental sustainability and innovation. One of the nominees is the City of Kingston, Ontario who is being recognized for their work on their Gateway Brownfields program. The Kingston Herald’s online website tells that:
“The City has been nominated for three Canadian Urban Institute Brownie Awards for its Gateway Brownfields program which demolished unsafe buildings and tested the contaminated soil of nine abandoned properties. “This hands-on municipal program, the first of its kind in Canada, has enabled the City to offer updated environmental reports to developers. Doing this up-front work has, so far, made two of these long unproductive properties attractive to developers,” says Paul MacLatchy, Director of Environment and Strategic Initiatives.”
This year the city is being recognized in three separate categories, including Communication, Financing and Legislation. Their program was focused on nine properties that had remained undeveloped due to concerns about possible soil contamination. The condition of the buildings was another hindrance that the city faced when trying to attract potential developers. The program directed their resources to demolishing 5 buildings and removing underground equipment that was contaminated by fuel products.
By taking this step they were able to realize a huge jump in developer interest. As a provider of of demolition and decontamination on services to property owners and managers alike, FERRO Canada can appreciate the effort it take for a municipality to take that initial leap of faith and commit to environmental responsibility. We commend the city of Kingston and its residents for acting entrepreneurially as opposed to bureaucratically and realizing the well earned gains in both monetary amounts and moral rectitude!
Congratulations Kingston – well done.
FERRO is a top tier environmental contractor that employs an extensive fleet of the most state-of-the-art equipment and technology available in the industry today. We combine this with engineered strategies that are guaranteed to provide our clients with full site remediation and preparation, all while keeping safety and efficiency in mind as a top priority. This approach has allowed us to maintain our position as a leading environmental services company in Canada, and we will continue to utilize for all of our clients.