The provincial Environment Department has confirmed a large tract of undeveloped land surrounded by homes in Halifax's west end is contaminated.

But it's not sharing key information from studies showing the extent of pollution on about 16 hectares used for years as a dumping ground next to the Fairmount subdivision.

And neither is the property owner, developer Butler Brothers.

Halifax Fairview MLA Graham Steele, who obtained the information through a freedom-of-information request, said residents deserve complete disclosure about the land adjacent to their homes.

"They walk their dogs there, their children play there, I'm told people pick blueberries there," he said.

But many are only just realizing now that rumours kicking around for decades about construction waste being dumped at the site are true, Mr. Steele said.

He's calling on the province to release all information it has about the property, saying the public deserves to know about specific areas of contamination and whether there's a potential health threat from high levels of pollutants.

Developers have been eyeing the property for years because it's one of the largest plots of undeveloped real estate close to the downtown, Mr. Steele said.

Besides Butler Brothers, two prospective purchasers have had detailed studies done to determine the extent of contamination at the site.

The province is withholding those reports, saying it's obligated to notify the companies that commissioned them. But that doesn't necessarily mean it will eventually decide to release the information anyway, said Environment Department spokeswoman Valerie Bellefontaine.

However, documents the department has released say that until the site is cleaned up it's an unsuitable place to live.

A provincial inspection of the land in 1997 found fill - including a load of petroleum-laden soil - was being dumped at the Fairmount site from throughout the city.

The Environment Department also discovered that "numerous truckloads of fill" containing high levels of contaminants from another site it was monitoring were being dumped at the Fairmount property.

Ken Butler of Butler Brothers told department officials the land had been used as a dump for years without environmental controls, the provincial documents say.

"Infilling at this site consisted of up to 18 metres of imported material in some locations."

Peter Butler, also of Butler Brothers, had the property assessed in 1998. According to the province, the study revealed levels of petroleum, metals and polynuclear hydrocarbons throughout the site that exceeded provincial guidelines.

Much of it was "silty sand intermixed with concrete, asphalt, brick, rebar pipe and metals," the documents say.

"Two crushed petroleum storage tanks were found near the surface of one test pit on the site, perhaps indicative of recent activity."

Peter Butler dismissed any suggestion the contaminated site could pose a threat to people.

"It's a lot of hype," he said Thursday.

"There's nothing there of any consequence that anybody should be upset about."

He declined to elaborate on the study he had done or what kind of waste was dumped at the site.

"That was just a little bit of old junk that people had put there, but it's nothing of any consequence that's going to poison anyone," he said.

"I'd just as soon not talk about it."