Declaration order

Having received a request from the Ministry of Public Infrastructure Renewal that an undertaking, namely:

  • The leasing of land in downtown Oshawa identified in Appendix A by the Ministry of Public Infrastructure Renewal from the City of Oshawa;
  • The subletting of all or part of the same land by the Ministry of Public Infrastructure Renewal to one or more private sector entities;
  • The design, construction, facilities management and financing of the courthouse and any related facilities by one or more private sector entities under one or more Project Agreements with the province; and
  • The acquisition of the courthouse and any related facilities by the Ministry of Public Infrastructure Renewal from one or more of the private sector entities at a later date

be declared not subject to the Environmental Assessment Act (the Act), its regulations, or a matter provided for under the Act, including the Class Environmental Assessment Process for (the former) Management Board Secretariat and Ontario Realty Corporation, pursuant to section 3.2; and

Having been advised by the Ministry of Public Infrastructure Renewal that if the undertaking is subject to the application of the Act, the following injury, damage or interference with the persons and property indicated will occur:

  1. The delay required to fulfill the obligations provided for under the Act would result in delaying the completion of a much needed new consolidated courthouse for the Region of Durham, required by the Ministry of the Attorney General to ensure the timely provision of judicial services and to cope with the fast expanding caseload in the Region;
  2. The delay would have significant financial implications for the province because the project cost would increase significantly if the province fails to complete the financial close with the successful bidder upon expiration of the holding period of the submitted bid price at the end February, 2007;
  3. Project delay resulting in cancellation of the project would have significant financial implications for the City of Oshawa given the considerable cost invested by the City to remediate the property;
  4. Cancellation of the project resulting from undue delay would significantly jeopardize provincial-municipal relations, and would undermine the provincial commitment to brownfield development and other initiatives of Places to Grow;
  5. Cancellation of the project, given two previous cancellations, would seriously compromise the viability of building a new consolidated courthouse in Durham Region, which is forecasted to have one of the province’s highest rates of growth in population and judicial caseload over the next 20 years; and
  6. The credibility of the province to leverage private sector resources and expertise to renew provincial infrastructure would be compromised.

Having weighed such injury, damage, or interference against the betterment of the people of the whole or any part of Ontario by the protection, conservation and wise management in Ontario of the environment which would result from the undertaking being subject to the application of the Act;

The undersigned is of the opinion that it is in the public interest to declare and declares that the undertaking is not subject to the application of the Act for the following reason(s):

  1. The site is being restored by the City of Oshawa, in accordance with a Remedial Action Plan prepared by its environmental consultant, Golder Associates. This plan involves the removal of contaminants to the generic criteria established by the Ministry of the Environment. The remediation methods identified in the Remedial Action Plan represent well established, best practice approaches to the remediation of the type of contaminants identified.
  2. The success of this remediation will be documented in a Record of Site Condition to be filed with the Ministry of the Environment in accordance with Soil, Ground Water and Sediment Standards for Use under Part XV.1 of the Environmental Protection Act in conjunction with Ontario Regulation 153/04 which will be audited by the ministry to ensure that ministry standards have been met.
  3. To provide further assurance of the site condition, an independent peer review of the site remediation is also being conducted by an environmental consultant retained by the Ministry of Public Infrastructure Renewal. In addition, an environmental barrier is being installed around the site as required to prevent offsite contamination from migrating back to the site; an impermeable membrane for the basement floors is included in the design specifications for the courthouse as a further protection against infiltration of soil gases into the building; and an indoor air quality monitoring program will be established with tests carried out on a regular basis once the facility is constructed and occupied.
  4. Beyond the remediation of the site, there are no significant environmental concerns identified as a result of the real estate undertaking under consideration.
  5. Notice of the proposal to issue this order has been placed on the Environmental Bill of Rights Registry and comments received have been considered in the preparation of this order.

This Declaration Order is subject to the following condition:

  1. The Ministry of Public Infrastructure Renewal shall not lease the property from the City of Oshawa and the construction of the courthouse shall not commence until the Record of Site Condition for the site remediation carried out by the City of Oshawa has been filed, and an audit by the Ministry of the Environment is complete.

Dated the 22nd day of January, 2007 at Toronto.

Original signed by:
Minister of the Environment

Approved by O.C. number 238/2007
Date O.C. approved: February 12, 2007
Environmental assessment file number: EA-04-10