One of Halifax’s newest subdivisions will be close to shopping and schools, and have great views of Northwest Arm and Chocolate Lake. It will also have a 3.6-hectare sealed pit filled with thousands of tonnes of oily and metal-laced debris.

The gunk has to be pulled out of the ground of the 16-hectare Armdale hilltop property.

It’s not a big selling feature, but developers of the Fairmount Ridge subdivision had little choice, opting for a giant containment cell over the crippling cost of trucking the soil out of province.

“There have not been too many subdivisions — in fact, (in) no subdivisions that I’ve built have we ever had to do this,’’ said Geoffrey McBeath, environmental consultant for Fairmount Developments Inc.

“Our only viable option is to sacrifice some of the lots and construct something on site.’’

Construction is now set to begin on the 147-home subdivision, now that the Environment Department has approved the clean-up of the property, located on the old Butler Lands near the Armdale Rotary.

Work began on site preparation last week.

McBeath, the development’s project manager, said the contaminents will be screened out of the soil and the toxic material buried in the cell, which will be lined and capped with high-density polyethylene.

Once filled, the cell will be covered, fenced off and hydroseeded. The developer will be responsible for monitoring and maintaining the facility.

“If it’s operating properly, there shouldn’t be any leaching from it, and no problem for people living nearby,’’ he said.

The property is one of the last choice pieces of undeveloped real estate in the city, but it is strewn with tonnes of construction debris from 20 years of infilling, including asphalt, concrete and minor building waste.

A report distributed to residents living near the subdivision said the levels of contaminated material are low, and limited to petroleum hydrocarbons and heavy metals. Environmental studies by the developer indicate the contamination has not affected the groundwater.

But neighbours say they still have a lot of unanswered questions about the development, particularly about traffic flow and environmental issues.

“We can’t seem to get a straight answer as to what actually is there,’’ said Ian Watt, who lives on Milsom Avenue.

He said neighbours have been getting mixed messages about just how serious the contamination is on the site.

“I remember at one meeting, the amount of contaminated soil up there (meant) that really you shouldn’t even be walking your dog up through that area,’’ said Watt, president of the local residents’ association.