On February 23rd and 24th, I sat in a courtroom as your "eyes and ears" to find out more about an environmental controversy swirling around a local property.

The developer of the new Fairmount Ridge subdivision has taken the provincial Department of Environment and Labour (DOEL) to court. The developer says it has done enough to clean up the site. The DOEL says more needs to be done.

To understand the issue, let me take you back two years. North of the St. Margaret's Bay Road and south of the Fairmount subdivision was an undeveloped, 39-acre property, known as "the Butler lands". This property had for 40 years been the scene of indiscriminate dumping. No-one knew for sure what had been dumped there. Tests showed levels of contaminants that made the land unsuitable for residential development. The cost of a clean-up had defeated all attempts at development.

Then along came a developer who thought he could, with new technology, develop the land. The contaminated soil would be removed and sifted. The larger pieces (uncontaminated) would be re-used as fill, while the smaller pieces (potentially contaminated) would be placed in an engineered "containment cell" along the southern edge of the property.

Work began in late 2002. There were many questions and concerns from nearby residents, especially about traffic and blasting, which were handled by the municipality. The one issue in which the provincial government was front and centre was protection of the environment, and that's the issue I've been watching closely.

In the fall of 2003, the developer concluded that the soil was not as contaminated as first thought. If so, there was no need for a containment cell. In fact the developer stopped putting any more soil in the containment cell after September 30th. But the DOEL did not accept the developer's analysis. The developer decided the only way to resolve the impasse was to go to court.

In the end, the two days set aside for the hearing were not enough. The case will continue on April 16th. After that, I expect it will take the judge several weeks or even months to issue a written decision.

I am neither for nor against this development. But I have been adamant that nearby residents must receive good, timely information about their environment. I have been disappointed that the DOEL has not interpreted its mandate to include public information.

In a way, I suppose this could be a good news story. If the judge sides with the developer, that means the soil is less contaminated than previously thought, and is within guidelines for residential development. That's good news for everyone, including anyone living near the development and anyone buying there. It also means residents of Crown Drive (and anyone else downhill from the development) don't need to worry about the future of the containment cell, because there won't be one.

If the DOEL's position is upheld (and my guess is that it will be), that means we're back where we were before, which is that contaminated soil will be removed and contained.

I will inform area residents of the judge's decision as soon as it is released. In the meantime, you can check my website (www.grahamsteele.ca/butlerlands.html). I'll be posting any news as it occurs.