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Smiths Falls waterworks

Smiths Falls must decide to raze or restore historic water treatment plant

A former Smiths Falls water treatment plant with two heritage designations was severely damaged in a May fire. Now, local officials of the eastern...
Wheatley-explosion

Addressing the issues of legacy gas wells in Ontario

The 2021 gas explosion in Wheatley, Ontario, brought to light the thousands of abandoned gas wells drilled across the region, which have been in poor condition for decades.

Atomic Energy Agency says release of Fukushima nuclear plant water meets standards

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station’s plans to release treated water into the Pacific Ocean are consistent...
Wheatley explosion

Ontario invests in capping old gas wells to prevent another Wheatley disaster

Ontario is investing $23.6 million to develop a province-wide strategy that includes identifying and capping old oil and gas wells to prevent petroleum-related emergencies...
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PFAS-Illustration

New federal PFAS report details risks, pathways for ‘forever chemicals’

The in-depth report suggests that the widespread use of these substances has led to the presence of certain PFAS in humans and nearly all environmental areas.
field equipment for slinging by helicopter

Assessing, remediating and performance monitoring abandoned mine sites in the Northwest Territories

The objective was to determine whether on-site concentrations of metals posed unacceptable risks to human and/or ecological receptors, derive ecological site-specific target levels, and provide recommendations for future work. The project provides a valuable case study for currently operating mines that are actively managing environmental liabilities.
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3M exits PFAS business amid flurry of contamination lawsuits

After some six decades and more than 3,000 lawsuits over claims of ground and water contamination, 3M has announced the end of production for...

SANEXEN awarded environmental cleanup of former Quebec aluminum plant

Nearly three years after a former aluminum plant was demolished in Quebec, a contract has been finalized to environmentally remediate the property. The contract for...

Ontario used oil refinery fined $140K for odour release incident

An Ontario court has fined used oil refinery and parts washing company Safety-Kleen Canada Inc. $140,000 for causing the discharge of sulphur compounds into...

Quebec company pleads guilty to improper PCB storage

A Quebec numbered company that works creating layouts for capacitors and ballasts, operating as Action-Éco Environnement, has been fined $15,000 for improperly storing polychlorinated...
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Hydrochloric acid breach at Ontario auto parts plant sends 23 to hospital

Twenty-three workers were taken to hospital last week following a hydrochloric acid spill at an automotive steering and suspension parts plant in St. Catharines,...
PlumeStop injection

The problem with PFAS waste incineration

The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) released a memo placing a moratorium on the incineration of materials containing PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances). According to the memo, the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act requires the ban until the DOD issues guidance implementing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) interim guidance on the destruction and disposal of PFAS. And, what does the EPA’s current interim guidance say about incinerating PFAS-containing waste? It is best summarized this way: “More research is needed.”
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Calgary gas producer fined for acidic release during failed transfer

Calgary-based natural gas processing company Tidewater Midstream and Infrastructure Ltd. has been fined $100,200 by the Alberta Energy Regulator for an acidic water release...
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Environmental groups call for new CEPA to include greater protection against toxics

Environmental action groups are urging the federal government to maintain Senate amendments made around the cumulative impacts of toxic chemicals for Bill S-5 following...
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York researchers make headway using enzymes to degrade groundwater contaminants

A York University research team is developing an enzyme-based technology for emerging contaminants in groundwater, and has so far found success in removing petroleum...
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Ottawa considers incentives to help swap out heating oil fuel tanks to protect source...

A City of Ottawa committee is recommending council approval of the home heating oil fuel tank incentive program to help eliminate contamination threats to...
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Nunavut fined $100K for high school diesel leak into Hudson Bay

The Nunavut government has been fined $100,000 for a diesel fuel leak at a local high school that flowed into Hudson Bay, according to...
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BC Cold War fallout bunker set to undergo contaminated soil cleanup

The area surrounding a Cold War nuclear fallout bunker in British Columbia is set to be remediated, according to a federal tender for the...
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Three BC engineers reprimanded over Mount Polley tailings disaster

Eight years after the Mount Polley tailings disaster, three engineers have been penalized following disciplinary proceedings by Engineers and Geoscientists British Columbia.

Nova Scotia tenders investigations into impacts of more than 70 former mines

Last March, after Nova Scotia identified nearly 70 sites it plans to assess and potentially remediate, officials have now added five more sites to...
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Hamilton’s Randle Reef remediation wraps up Phase Two

One of the most notable remediation projects in North America, for its sheer scale of underwater contamination on the Canadian side of the Great...
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Nova Scotia gold mine fined $250k over dumping charges

An investigation into a Nova Scotia open-pit gold mine has uncovered seven incidents of illegal dumping that has led to fines totalling $250,000. Atlantic Mining...
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Researchers find decades-old nanoplastics in ice from Earth’s poles

An international team of scientists identified significant quantities of nanoscale plastic particles in decades-old ice samples from Greenland and Antarctica as part of a...
The award-winning environmental soil treatment used to remediate Whitehorse’s Marwell Tar Pit is called enhanced thermal conduction. Photo Credit: Milestone Environmental Contracting Inc.

Brownie Awards celebrate brownfield and remediation projects across Canada

A number of significant brownfield remediation projects took the spotlight at the recent Brownie Awards, where award winners ranged from Whitehorse’s thermal conduction work...
Water-Replenishment-District-building

PFAS lawsuits continue as California sues 3M for groundwater pollution

California's largest groundwater agency is suing 3M and a series of other companies it believes are responsible for “knowingly” polluting groundwater with perfluoroalkyl and...

Canadian researchers enhancing wetland microbes to clean oilsands wastewater

A Canada-wide team of researchers is looking to harness the power of ecosystem services in the natural environment to clean up process-affected water from...
shoreline cleanup

Cleanup continues for one of California’s worst ever oil spills

An initial investigation into one of the largest oil spills in California's history appears to show evidence that an underwater pipeline was damaged by...
PFOS-molecule

CCME issues soil, groundwater quality guidelines for PFOS

The Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) has published soil and groundwater quality guidelines for perfluoroalkyl substances, widely known as PFOS. The guidelines...

CN Rail nets second fine over spraying pesticides on tracks near B.C. river

The Canadian National Railway Co. has been fined $2.5 million under the Fisheries Act for spraying pesticides on a rail corridor that runs along...
tailings map

UWaterloo researchers map worldwide mining disasters as a new tool

Researchers at the University of Waterloo have used historical satellite imagery to map a database showing 63 tailings flow incidents that have occurred worldwide...
aerial-view-Giant-Mine

First Nation signs $20M compensation deal over impacts from NWT Giant Mine

The federal government has agreed to set aside up to $20 million over the next decade as compensation for how the historical operation and...
ships with oil sheen on the water

Microbes biodegrade diesel fuel in Labrador Sea, study finds

Marine bacteria in the frigid waters of the Labrador Sea may be capable of biodegrading fossil fuels following diesel or crude oil spills from...
INRS-PFAS-Researchers

Quebec team studies new class of electrodes to degrade PFAS in water

A new research project team in Quebec hopes to create innovative solutions to decontaminate waters containing harmful chemical compounds like perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances...
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Canadians should not pay for industry’s abandoned well cleanup, report says

“It’s highly questionable” whether oil and gas companies should be leaving taxpayers on the hook for expensive cleanup costs around Alberta’s abandoned wells, says...
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Feds fund Mercury Care Home to treat Ontario First Nations poisoned over decades

New federal funding of $88.4 million for a First Nations care home will offer specialized treatment for at least 22 northwestern Ontario residents suffering...
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North Bay signs $20M cleanup deal with DND over airport PFAS contamination

North Bay has finalized a landmark agreement with the Department of National Defence (DND), which will provide nearly $20 million over six years to...
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Treatment options for PFAS contaminated groundwater

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a class of chemical compounds that have been used in the manufacturing of a wide variety of consumer products since the 1940s. Due to growing public awareness and an evolving political climate, widespread changes to government regulations and enforcement are imminent.
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Denmark exhumes culled COVID mink due to groundwater contamination fear

After the Danish government culled and buried some four million farmed mink in late 2020 due to a COVID-19 mutation, officials have begun to...
excess-soil-management

Understanding the testing requirements under Ontario’s new excess soil regulation

The premise of Ontario’s Regulation 406/19 is that soil is a precious and limited resource and, as with any limited resource, excess soil generated from construction and earthmoving projects needs to be properly managed.
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Energy companies fined $1.5M for chlorinated water leak that entered North Saskatchewan River

An Alberta energy partnership faces a $1.5-million fine some seven years after chlorinated water leaked for three days from one of its fire suppression...
loaded tanker truck

Catching spills before they hit the ground will cut costs

The unintended underground of crisscrossed avenues provides an effective avenue for any seepage that “came down the crack” on the concrete slab. Releases of solvents and chemicals “eat away” at these between-slab expansion joints. As such, an annual inspection and recaulking may be a good investment.
North-Saskatchewan-River

Calgary oil company battles Christmas Day pipeline spill

Calgary-based oil and gas producer ARC Resources Ltd. experienced a Christmas Day spill of about 400,000 litres of produced water from an oilfield pipeline...
vapour barrier installation

Improving vapour barriers and installation practices allows safer development

Over time, best practices have been developed into standard operating procedures to ensure that contaminant vapour barriers will function as intended over their service life. A vapour barrier installation best practice program involves properly training installers on the latest best practices for installation and validating a barrier’s proper installation through QA/QC testing.
Ajax-Mine-site

Eco-groups call for new monitoring of creek contamination from former B.C. mine

Community eco-action groups in British Columbia are calling on the province to increase its monitoring of mining metals and compounds that a new report...
landfills synthetic clay liners

low-energy extraction wells for removing contaminant plumes originating from lined landfills

In some low hydraulic conductivity settings, using one or more low-capacity wells could be advantageous, by decreasing the chance of excessive drawdown associated with higher capacity wells.
Results of LNAPL mobility testing

How natural processes are changing the way we manage petroleum contamination

Most of the petroleum non-aqueous phase liquid at the majority of contaminated sites is expected to exist in residual form that remains largely unrecoverable via conventional remediation techniques.
Brick mortar

Careful planning required to deal with asbestos during facade renovations

By Hassan Ktaech While even the most experienced commercial construction and renovation companies may be well versed in how to remove asbestos safely from walls,...
Toronto-excavation

Ontario’s new regulation on excess soil highlights new in-demand skills

Ontario’s new excess soil regulation points to skills that will be in demand in the future. With the increased density of cities and the popularity of high-rise living, there has been a growing volume of excavated soil.
Seleine-Mines-tour

Two Quebec companies fined for environmental violations

Following guilty pleas, two Quebec companies are facing fines for violations of federal environmental rules.  Seleine Mines, a division of K+S Windsor Salt Ltd., is...
Passive soil-gas TCE concentrations

Environmental forensic tools help answer legal, groundwater contamination problems

Recent court decisions have interpreted regulatory liability for contaminated lands in ways that expand the liability of polluters and, in some instances, innocent owners of contaminated sites.
Ville Ste-Catherine battery recycling facility

Creating a closed-loop process to recycle 99% of lead batteries

East Penn and Terrapure have developed a closed-loop solution to recycle East Penn’s batteries. The two companies decided a “tolling” agreement was the best way to ensure a circular life cycle.
Reay Creek Pond

B.C. town begins phase two of metal remediation for pond by former airport

The federal government has awarded phase two of British Columbia’s Reay Creek sediment remediation project to QM Environmental for $1.14 million, as officials work...
recycled lead ingots

East Penn Canada and Terrapure win environmental award for innovative lead battery recycling

Terrapure Environmental (Terrapure) and East Penn Canada announced that they received an Environment + Energy Leader Award for "Project of the Year" for their...
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Forestry company spills diesel during failed fuel transfer process on B.C. coast

As the result of a failed fuel transfer process, a forestry company has claimed responsibility for spilling some 4,500 litres of diesel fuel into...
Battle-Creek

Alberta fuel supplier fined $1.25M for Battle River fish deaths

An Alberta-based fuel supplier has been fined $1.25 million after pleading guilty to a solvent spill that killed fish in a creek that flows...
Congressional PFAS Task Force

U.S. PFAS Bill passes House, but faces major hurdle in Senate

The House of Representatives passed the PFAS Action Act, to protect the environment and clean up areas affected by PFAS, but it must now pass the Senate.
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Trailer park and aerosol company face environmental fines

Northwest Territories-based Hay River Mobile Home Park Ltd. has pleaded guilty to a fuel truck spill that occurred in October 2016 on Hay River. The...
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Using eDNA technology to help plan primary resource industry projects

Environmental DNA (eDNA) detection has great potential in characterizing biodiversity over the life cycle of primary resource industry projects. The extreme sensitivity of eDNA technology is essential in gaining confidence that species are present or not present at sites.
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Nunavut-based mining company fined $50K for effluent violation

A Nunavut-based mining company has been fined $50,000 for depositing a harmful effluent into a creek at its gold mine 685 km northeast of...
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Gas vapour mitigation system used for site remediation project

A 123-acre brownfield site was selected for a casino development. Before construction could commence, developers needed to remediate heavily contaminated soil, which contained harmful gas vapours.
Giant Mine Remediation

Federal government unveils $2.2B northern mines remediation program

A new federal program will invest $2.2 billion over 15 years to remediate contamination in eight of the largest high-risk abandoned mine projects in...
Clothing at Dry-Cleaner

Quebec dry cleaner fined and ordered to study chemical management

The owner of a Quebec-based dry cleaning company has pled guilty and has been fined $77,000 for contravening a series of federal environmental laws...
Nathan E. Stewart tugboat

Marine transport firm fined $2.7M for 2016 British Columbia spill

A British Columbia court has fined Kirby Offshore Marine Operating LLC $2.7 million after the Texas-based company pled guilty to three charges in relation...
North Saskatchewan River Water Quality Map

Husky fined for 2016 pipeline leak into North Saskatchewan River

Husky Oil Operations Ltd. has been ordered to pay a $3.8-million fine as the result of a blended heavy crude oil pipeline leak into...
faro mine

Major contract awarded for Faro Mine remediation

Faro Mine, one of the largest contaminated sites in Canada is moving ahead with the next phase in its remediation. On May 31, 2019, the...
dry clean rack

Canada’s top court rejects appeal in Ottawa dry cleaner contamination case

An Ottawa-based dry cleaner found liable for $1.63 million in remediation costs related to the spill of degreaser chemicals between 1960 and 1974 has...
soil sampling

Using multiple lines of evidence helps in the study and remediation of PFAS

Even though PFAS are almost ubiquitous in the environment, their composition and release mechanisms are often different, depending on the source.
Nuclear blast

Environmental isotopes help solve groundwater issues

Compound-specific isotope analysis has emerged as a line of evidence to assess bioremediation of volatile organic compounds in the subsurface.
cement mixer truck

Ex situ treatment approach used for soil impacted with cyanides

Two environmental site assessments, subsurface investigation and monitoring programs, have been conducted at a former industrial facility in Guelph, Ontario.
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Alberta Environment Minister orders staged cleanup of former wood treatment site

Alberta Environment Minister Shannon Phillips issued a ministerial order that requires a nine-step remediation process to take place over the next nine months at...
Manitoba train derailment

Unknown amount of crude oil spilled in Manitoba train derailment

Cleanup crews in Manitoba have built a berm to contain an unknown amount of oil spilled from rail cars around the area where a...
excess-soil-infographic

Excess soil is a valuable resource that should not be wasted

Each year, an estimated 26 million cubic metres of construction soil must be managed in Ontario.
oil-well-image

Bankrupt energy companies can’t abandon cleanup obligations, Supreme Court rules

Bankrupt oil and gas companies must fulfill provincial environmental obligations before paying anyone it owes money to, the Supreme Court has ruled, overturning a...
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Syncrude to pay $2.75 million for great blue heron deaths at oilsands

On January 2, 2019, Syncrude Canada Ltd. pleaded guilty in the Provincial Court of Alberta to one count of violating the Migratory Birds Convention Act,...
Gunnar mine headframe demolition

Saskatchewan suing Ottawa for more funding on Gunnar mine cleanup

Saskatchewan started motion on a lawsuit to force the federal government to contribute to the $280-million cleanup of the abandoned Gunnar uranium mine.
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Latest Husky oil spill may be Newfoundland’s largest ever

Husky Energy officials say a gap in the pipe at its SeaRose floating platform, 350 kilometres southeast of St. John’s, Newfoundland is the likely...
overhead view of the grain elevator site

Surfactant technology enhances remediation at contaminated grain elevator site

By Eric Dulle and George “Bud” Ivey Grain elevators are an enduring symbol of agricultural tradition. Unfortunately, they present environmental problems, due to a legacy...
Laurel Point Park

Transport Canada awards $17M for final remediation of former paint company site in BC

Transport Canada has awarded a $17.6-million contract to a joint venture through QM/JJM Contracting to remove contaminants from the ecosystem around Laurel Point Park...
Fentanyl-Lethal-Dose

Alberta may become first province to issue fentanyl cleanup guidelines

The Government of Alberta has earmarked $350,000 to create guidelines for the cleanup of properties contaminated with traces of the powerful opioid fentanyl. Alberta Health...
Tundra Mine remediation site

NWT, federal government celebrate end of 11-year Tundra Mine remediation

After 11 years and $110 million, the Tundra Mine remediation project in the Northwest Territories has cleared all remaining ore residue at the former...

Alberta levies fine, charges in PCB and pesticide leaks

On August 15, 2018, the Provincial Court of Alberta fined FortisAlberta Inc. $300,000, following the major electricity provider’s guilty plea for violating PCB Regulations...

Saskatchewan First Nations file lawsuit against energy company over 2016 oil spill

Two Cree Nations groups in Saskatchewan have filed a lawsuit against Husky Energy for a 2016 pipe break that spilled oil into the North...
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Nexen Energy fined for violating Canada’s Migratory Birds Convention Act

On July 13, 2018, Nexen Energy ULC was ordered to pay a total penalty of $290,000 in the Provincial Court of Alberta, after pleading...
Map showing Harrietsfield, Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia investigates rural water contamination fears after site owners ignore orders

While residential complaints linger over potential contaminants still leaching into the groundwater from a recycling plant in Harrietsfield, Nova Scotia, the provincial government has...
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Confusion still surrounds who will spearhead Thunder Bay harbour cleanup

After going largely dormant in 2014, Thunder Bay is looking to rebuild a steering committee dedicated to remediating an estimated 400,000 m3 of mercury-contaminated...
faro mine

Yukon nears end of public consult for Faro mine remediation

Remediation of Faro Mine in the Yukon, once the largest open pit lead-zinc mine in the world, is estimated to take 15-years and $590-million.

Freshwater oil spill study underway at Ontario’s Experimental Lakes facility

As part of a study, scientists are deliberately spilling oil to determine the impacts of diluted bitumen on freshwater systems.

BC park on former paint site to be remediated by city next to federal...

The British Columbia city of Victoria has approved $3.1 million towards the remediation of Laurel Point Park, where soil and groundwater were contaminated by...
Boat Harbour Cleanup Timeline

Nova Scotia’s Boat Harbour cleanup plan getting clearer

A provincial plan is slowly being unveiled for Nova Scotia’s largest contaminated site, known as Boat Harbour, where a 140-hectare collection of settling ponds,...

Small Quebec town fined $100K for PCB violation

The small northwestern Quebec Town of Amos has been fined $100,000 and entered into the federal Environmental Offenders Registry after town officials pleaded guilty...
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New proposed regulations on excess soil management

On April 16, the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) posted brand new proposed regulations to address the management of excess soils...
Randle Reef Remediation

Phase 2 underway for massive Randle Reef remediation

At Randle Reef in Ontario’s Hamilton Harbour, one of the most contaminated underwater sites on the Canadian side of the Great Lakes, construction of...

Latest spill shows North still struggling to prevent and control oil events

The Qulliq Energy Corporation (QEC), based in Nunavut, says a faulty automated valve and loose plug were the likely culprits in a March diesel...

Port Hope’s $1.28B radioactive waste removal underway in Ontario

Beginning in April 2018, and continuing through the summer, the first loads of an estimated 1.2 million cubic metres of historic low-level radioactive waste...
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Canadian Brownfields Network conducting a survey of the brownfield landscape

The Canadian Brownfields Network (CBN) is launching several initiatives to revisit and update the 15 year old National Round Table on the Environment and...

U.S. firm Parsons wins bid to complete Giant Mine clean up in NWT

U.S.-based engineering services firm, Parsons Inc., has won the latest remediation contract surrounding the cleanup of arsenic trioxide waste at Yellowknife’s Giant Mine in...
Site-remediation-by-Port-Hope-Area-Initiative

Radiation protection for the remediation of historic low-level radioactive waste

The Port Hope Area Initiative (PHAI) is the Government of Canada’s response to the community-recommended solutions for the remediation and safe, long-term management of historic low-level radioactive waste in the municipalities of Port Hope and Clarington, Ontario.

Sears leaves Calgary mall and questions amid unfinished remediation

Shortly after Alberta Environment officials announced in December 2017 that remediation efforts are still needed at a former Sears Canada property in Calgary, the...
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Ontario food manufacturer fined for offences relating to discharging process water

On January 17, 2018, Sun-Brite Foods Inc. was convicted of two offences under the Ontario Water Resources Act (OWRA), and one offence under the...
Downtown, Windsor, Ontario

Brownfield applications rolling in for Windsor, Ontario, as land prices spike

Freezing taxes for a decade, paying for feasibility and environmental studies, and chipping in for soil and groundwater testing were a few of the...

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