By Joel van der Veen
August 23, 2010

DAVIDSON - Town council has approved a plan for completing the cleanup of a contaminated lot on Railway Avenue, following a series of negotiations with the Saskatoon-based company responsible for the project.

At their monthly meeting on Aug. 17, town administrator Gary Edom told council he had discussed the situation with Lawrence Pinter, lead engineer for Pinter and Associates.

The empty lot, located at the corner of Railway Avenue and Hamilton Street and formerly the site of a gas station, was contaminated by leakage from underground fuel tanks. Despite a cleanup effort conducted by Pinter's company that cost the town $41,000, the lot still fails to meet provincial pollution standards.

Following a visit to town council last month, Pinter estimated that further cleanup would cost between $4,800 and $6,000, offering the town a 10 per cent discount on that price.

In response, Edom told Pinter that council was unlikely to approve that offer and was now considering legal action. On Aug. 16, Pinter made a followup offer with a 25 per cent discount, putting the total cost between $3,600 and $4,500.

After discussion, council voted to accept Pinter's offer with the discount, but also stressed that the lot should not be closed or refilled until it is approved by the Saskatchewan Ministry of the Environment.

Speaking to The Davidson Leader on Aug. 18, Edom said it is unlikely the second stage of the cleanup will begin until this fall, partly due to the weather.

"Everything's so wet this year," he remarked.

The town is eager to sell the lot because of a shortage of commercial property in Davidson. Pinter told council it could also opt to have the lot reclassified under Tier 2B, but this would limit the types of development allowed there.

The leaderonline is a division of The Davidson Leader, Davidson, Saskatchewan, Canada.