December 8, 2009

FEATURE | Demolition & environmental engineering

Website offers ideas on how to rehab defunct gas stations

JEAN SORENSEN

correspondent

Former gas stations sites are a legacy of the North America love affair with the automobile and are now the most common remediation sites in North America.

They are also the "most under-utilized" sites that are often "not providing economic benefits" in any form as the land sites idle, says Tammy Lomas-Jylhä, vice-president of remediation and brownfields for the Ontario Centre for Environmental Technology Advancement (OCETA).

For the past decade, it was the most common problem finding its way to Lomas-Jylhä's office as developers from across Canada looked for ways to move these sites forward.

That led Lomas-Jylhä to spearhead an Ontario stakeholders group, which has now developed a free on-line tool setting out a step-by-step guide for former service site development.

The tool is considered unique to Ontario with nothing similar available in North America. Lomas-Jylhä said in the U.S. there are Internet sites that supply information but nothing that provides this detailed staged guidance for developers moving through the rehabilitation process.

The tool,'The Redevelopment Framework for Former Service Stations in the Province of Ontario,' was recognized at this year's Canadian Brownfields conference in Vancouver.

It received a Brownie Award in the category of communications, marketing and public engagement.

OCETA was recognized with funding partners the Canadian Petroleum Products Institute (CPPI) and the Province of Ontario. The honours in this category were shared with joint-winner Niagara, which has combined a roster of brownfield developed opportunities in its region.

"These sites have their challenges, but if we can provide solutions then we can create value," Lomas-Jylhä says of the stalled gas station locations.

But "remediation can't outweigh the development potential or there is no way to move forward."

Approximately 18 months ago, Lomas-Jylhä, who was also honoured as the Brownfielder of the Year for her career contributions to remediating brownfields, realized this tool had to be hands-on and readily available.

While there was a need right across Canada, legislation and process differed in each province. She focused on Ontario. Representatives of all Ontario government levels, environmental consultants in the remediation field, developers and organizations such as the CPPI were brought to the table. The input and concerns lead to a staged process.

"There was a real need to create a stream-lined process and to provide information with a factual structure that people could follow. The ultimate goal is turning a greater number of these under-utilized sites into productive land," she says.

The tool guides municipalities, property owners, realtors, and even bankers, through the development of typical service station sites. The Framework guide can be accessed at OCETA's website.

The guidelines stress that early and ongoing communications with regulatory bodies and stakeholders by developers is an important aspect of ensuring that projects move forward.

The key elements of framework's process are divided into four streams: finance, technical, land-use planning and external communication.

These key elements are dealt with in four main stages: setting the stage; evaluation and planning; implementation; and management.

The framework is assisted by a supplementary online document which provides insight into successful service station redevelopment.

Lomas-Jylhä says one of the benefits of providing this tool plus the best-practices guide is that these references allow all stakeholders involved in a project to see and evaluate the role others play in the development process.

This can lead to further streamlining, reduce redundancy, and create expediency for a developer. It will help everyone understand how his or her pieces fit together, she says.

While the tool, launched in spring 2009, is specific to Ontario, interest has come from across Canada. Unfortunately, stakeholders in other provinces can not rely upon it. "While the process is similar, the regulatory regimes are very different," Lomas-Jylhä explains.

The tool, though, could be transferred to other industry sectors in Ontario. "This is very exciting. We have had interest from other jurisdiction and it can be applied not just to gas stations.

"We could use the concept and principles as part of the (new) framework for other brownfield development guides, dry-cleaners might be one."

One of the features of the framework is that if the service station site can not be redeveloped at the current time, there is information on ways that municipalities and property owners can work together to identify temporary site uses.

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