People should not have to wait indefinitely for a dangerous site to be cleaned up. “No neighbourhood should have to live beside this kind of hazard. No one should die because we failed to act.” – Gwen Kennedy, Director, Coalition for a Better Catharines
A News Release from The Coalition for a Better Catharines, a city-based citizens group
Posted August 14th, 2026 on Niagara At Large
ST. CATHARINES, Ontario — A Niagara Transit Superbus will travel through St. Catharines for the next eight weeks with a message to City Hall, the former GM property owner and the public:
“Clean up the former GM site: No more delays!”
The Coalition for a Better St. Catharines is sponsoring the campaign to demand action at the 55-acre former General Motors property on Ontario Street.
The abandoned site has deteriorated for years. Buildings are failing, roofs are collapsed or open to the weather, and exposed tunnels and elevator shafts create hazards for trespassers, including young people.
This site has been allowed to deteriorate for far too long,” said Gwen Kennedy, a Coalition director. “People living nearby should not have to look at dangerous, abandoned buildings year after year while governments and the property owner argue about what happens next.”
The Coalition says lab tests show the property contains asbestos in its soil as well in the building materials of the remaining structures.. Deteriorating or disturbed asbestos-containing materials can release fibres that pose serious long-term health risks to residents living near the site. .
The City of St. Catharines has ordered the owner to repair or demolish remaining structures on both sides of Ontario Street. The owner has challenged those orders in court.
Former GM site, contaminated with a host of poisons, along Ontario Street in St. Catharines near a neighbourhood of family homes.
The Coalition has advocated for cleanup since 2019 and asked the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks to investigate potential contamination in 2020. More than 3,200 residents have signed petitions calling for action.
“The Superbus will not solve this on its own,” Kennedy said. “What will solve it is political will, enforcement and elected officials who can get things done.”
People should not have to wait indefinitely for a dangerous site to be cleaned up,” she added. “No neighbourhood should have to live beside this kind of hazard. No one should die because we failed to act.”
For more on the Coalition for a Better St. Catharines, click on the group’s home page at – https://www.abetterstcatharines.ca/
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