Aerial picture of August 1995 looking east across the Property. Centennial Park/Jones Lake to right of picture. Locomotive Repair to Information Technology: Brownfield Development of the Former CN Rail Car Shops, , New Brunswick

By Dr. Scott MacKnight, Ph.D., CEA, CESA, OCL Services Ltd., 47 North Street, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia B2Y 1B7

ommonly known as the “hub of had more than 5,000 employees. By the late 1980s, the demand Cthe Maritimes”, Moncton, New The “Shops” did or made virtually for such support services had greatly Brunswick long served as the crossroads everything needed to maintain rail cars diminished. In 1989, CN Rail closed for passenger and freight rail services and locomotives: logs into lumber; brass the “Shops”, demolished the build- between central and destina- into engine fittings; steel into locomotive ings (but left the basement slabs) and tions in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and wheels. Activities were spread out over a removed any recoverable equipment. Prince Edward Island. To support rail 200+ acre site, with an additional 60 acres Suddenly, Moncton had a large tear in services, the Intercolonial Railway (later along the south side acting as the Franklin its urban fabric, an abandoned property part of CN Rail), in 1910, established a Marshalling Yard. While careful attention within 0.5 km of the downtown core. service and repair facility in Moncton. was given to liquid wastes, waste wood, The property was now surrounded by an As demand grew, the facility expanded steel and foundry sand were considered expanded city, but could no longer con- to a time in the late 1940s, when it “inert” and buried on the site. tribute to the city.

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4 canadian reclamation golder_spring03 1 24/02/2003, 9:34:30 AM Abandoned concrete founda- tions and supports of Power Plant Building at former CN Rail Car Shops property (June 1997). Example of remnants of over 25 buildings still on the site in 1997.

Excavation of buried rail and rail car remnants in western sector (Reclaim Yard) of former CN Rail Car Shops property (July 1997).

With privatization of CN Rail • Centre of an urban community. As the environmental management in 1994, the • “Abandoned” former industrial site. advisors to CLC, we faced three major retained extensive land holdings, includ- • Departure of the business impacted challenges: ing the 280-acre Moncton Shops and the economy of the city. Franklin Yard property. In 1995, Canada • Vacant from 1989 to 1996, 1. A property of 280 acres. Lands Company (CLC), a federal crown generating speculation that the 2. While federal lands in 1996, corporation, was given the mandate to property was “contaminated”. sale of the property to private inter- sell and promote the re-development of • Community desire for re-develop- ests would shift contaminant man- the site. The Moncton Shops property is ment, but in a format that agement issues to provincial envi- a classic brownfield: would be a positive contribution ronmental regulatory control. to the city.

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a clra | acrsd publication 5 C.J.B. RECLAMATIONS LTD.

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Excavation of lumber and wood waste disposal area in western sector Oil Field - Municipal (Reclaim Yard) of former CN Rail Car Shops property (July 1997). Reclamations Site Abandonments Pileline & Facilities

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Environmental site assessment test pits in PDU 1 of former CN Rail Car Shops property (September 1997). CJB i 04 1 11/12/03 10 45 27 AM

3. CLC had responsibilities, defined The issue of land area was met by both federal government and through creation of 12 Property internal policies, to ensure that Development Units (PDUs) (10 land the sale and development met the areas, groundwater, surface water). “best interests of the Government The scope of each area was defined and citizens of Canada.” by geography, potential contamination and potential development uses (office, To meet these challenges, we first residential, recreational). developed a Property Management To address concerns of potential or Protocol For Sustainable Development. actual contamination, we developed a Key aspects were: characterization program for each PDU that would provide a three-dimensional • Development within the context profile for each contaminant of con- of protection of the environment cern, with a 95% degree of statistical and economic constraints. confidence of the median value. Every • Full and open transparency of activity was fully documented and the process to the community. information placed in a geographical • Reduction in contamination lev- information system (GIS). This sys- els to permit future development. tem was the key to successful develop- • Remedial actions based on risk ment of risk management and remedial reduction and risk management. action planning. • Promotion of recycling and re-use But how to get information to the of materials from the property. general public? We first used the tradi- • Promotion of site development tional format of newspaper interviews, 149th Street Business Centre that would re-construct the urban “open houses”, presentations to City 100 - 14964 - 121A Avenue and economic fabric of Moncton. Council and newsletters/web page. Edmonton, AB T5V 1A3

a clra | acrsd publication 7 Stockpiling of crushed concrete Artist’s rendition of development Aerial view to south of former to be recycled as roadway base in scenarios for former CN Rail Car CN Rail Car Shops property (May new development (June 1998). Shops property (2001) 2002) showing completed soc- cer and ball fields in Moncton Common and construction of building for four ice surfaces.

To integrate the community into the project, we initiated a “community roundtable” of 10 citizens (business peo- ple to university students), co-chaired by two distinguished Monctonians (Dr. Louis LaPierre of University de Moncton and Mrs. A. Landry, a former government minister). The roundtable both represented community interests and concerns to the project and pro- vided a conduit for information flow to the community. They facilitated several “town hall” meetings that provided an opportunity to describe our successes to-date, but to also defend and explain our activities. We began the process of brownfield re-development in October 1996. By April 1998, most of the property was assessed and remedial action plans for 7 PDUs and issues of groundwater and surface water were presented to the New Brunswick Department of Environment and Local Government. With their approval, remediation began in summer 1998. By summer 2000, the Property was ready to be sold. About 60 acres in the eastern part of the Property are committed to the Emmerson Business Technology Park. The first two of 10 office build- ings for information technology have been constructed and are occupied by companies such as AOL Canada. By 2007, Emmerson Park will provide up to 3000 “21st century” jobs, or nearly the same number of jobs as the former Rail Car Shops. The Honourable Henry Emmerson, former Minister of Railways and Canals and MP for Moncton in 1910, would be proud. The Franklin Yard lands are under negotiation for

8 canadian reclamation Dr. Scott MacKnight of OCL Services (left) and Mr. Don MacCallum View west of former CN Rail Car of Canada Lands Company (right) after receipt of the 1st Phoenix Shops facility in late 1940s. Award for Brownfield Re-development (International Category) at Brownfields 2003 (Portland Oregon).

residential development. The crown jewel earned Canada Lands Company sev- of the project, and that which best linked eral awards, including two “brown- the property back into the community, is ie” awards by the Canadian Urban For more information on this project, the 110 acre Moncton Common, a space Institute (2002) and the first Phoenix please contact Dr. Scott MacKnight at provided for soccer fields, ball fields and a Award for Brownfield Re-develop- [email protected] (OCL Services Ltd., four-ice surface recreation centre. ment (International Category) by the Dartmouth, NS). Information is also The success story of the Moncton U.S. Environmental Protection Agency provided at www.oclgroup.com and Shops brownfield re-development has (October 2003). ■ Canada Lands webpage at www.clc.ca.

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