Ontario Environment Minister Says No Recent Evidence of Toxic Substances Leaving GM Site in St. Catharines

A Letter from Ontario Environment, Conservation and Parks Minister Todd McCarthy, Shared By St. Catharines NDP MPP Jennie Stevens

Posted November 6^th, 2025 on Niagara At Large

Ontario Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks Todd McCarthy

In response to a recent letter sent by St. Catharines NDP MPP Jennie Stevens to Ontario Environment, Conservation and Parks Minister Todd McCarthy, urging his ministry to be more open with and act on concerns by residents living near the abandoned General Motors site off Ontario Street in St. Catharines about toxic contamination at the site, the Minister has written her back in a November 3^rd letter saying all the recent information the ministry has indicates that toxic subtances on the  site are  contained.

“The ministry previously ensured that the property owner completed their plan to plug the storm sewer and install a sewage works that collects, stores and treats the storm water prior to discharging to the sanitary sewer. Further monitoring has confirmed that PCBs are no longer an issue in the storm sewer. The ministry routinely conducts perimeter checks and has not identified any further off-site issues,” the Environment Minister’s letter to Stevens says in part

Here is a copy of the Ontario Environment Minister’s full letter –

A Footnote by Niagara At Large reporter/publisher Doug Draper – Residents living in the vicinity and downstream from the abandoned General Motors site off Ontario Street in St. Catharines have repeatedly pressed the Ontario Environment Ministry for information about PCBs and other toxic subtances possibly migrating off the site and threatening their properties and health.

It is unacceptable, to say the least, that it took an open letter from their local provincial member of parlament – St. Catharines MPP Jennie Stevens – to Ontario’s Environment Minister to get some answers.

For a another recent post on this issue, click on – Urgent Action Required At The Former GM Site In St. Catharines To Protect Public Health And The Environment | Niagara At Large

NIAGARA AT LARGE Encourages You To Join The Conversation By Sharing Your Views On This Post In The Space Following The Bernie Sanders Quote Below and by sharing the Niagara At Large site at www.niagaraatlarge.com with all of your friends and associates.

“A Politician Thinks Of The Next Election. A Leader Thinks Of The Next Generation.” – Bernie Sanders