Losing trust: My dream home is no longer safe for my family
Difficult choices for those living near former Domtar site in northeast Edmonton
Buying your first family home should be an exciting process. When you walk into a home that meets all the criteria for your family, you know that you have found the one.
You trust that the people involved in the transaction are being transparent and that the home you are buying is safe.
In 2005, my husband Jason and I found our forever home for our growing family and happily moved into our home on Huffman Crescent, in the Hermitage area.
Within months of moving into our home, we were already enjoying the large green space directly behind our home, the greenbelt.
We bought our daughter her own Barbie-themed Power Wheels and chased her up and down the grass for hours.
We watched another daughter take her first steps in the prickly grass out back. All of our children had their training wheels taken off in the greenbelt and learned to ride their bikes independently.
Their summer memories include that open space behind our home and the joy it has brought to their lives.
Every summer our family hosted a large family barbecue for 30 to 40 people. We rented a jumpy castle for the little ones and put it in the greenbelt while the adults played football, horseshoes or just relaxed in the shade.
The kids took turns in the Power Wheels and the adults chatted while the neighbours stopped by. Typically a few of the neighbours spent hours visiting and, over the years, they became like family.
In early 2018, we were informed by the city that a 10-foot fence would be erected and that our beloved greenbelt would be off-limits until further notice.
The greenbelt was contaminated with toxic chemicals from the Domtar wood treatment plant that operated in the area from 1924 until 1987.
Everything changed
Within days of getting the news, the fence was up and no one in the neighbourhood knew what health risks we faced from being exposed to these chemicals.
Summer of 2018 was very different for my community. No longer could we use that open space to play with our children and pets. There were no more football or soccer games; no one was gardening and the neighbours weren't out enjoying the sun and the friendships made over the years.
Children, who normally would be climbing the trees out back, had to leave the crescent and go blocks from home to use the playground.
For the past 14 years my family has been exposed to these toxins and were not notified of the dangers.- Maureen Reagan
Our neighbourhood was overrun with soil drilling trucks while they took more than 1,400 soil samples. We had consent forms to fill out, medical questionnaires, and surveying companies at our doors nearly every day. Summer 2018 was anything but a relaxing time.
Those soil samples have now been analyzed and we have been informed that our greenbelt has a high level of toxicity.
At a community meeting, we were warned to contact our doctors and begin cancer screenings 10 years earlier than what is recommended to the general public.
For the past 14 years my family has been exposed to these toxins. For 14 years my children have been back there playing, rolling in the grass. They have eaten vegetables grown in the soil.
Had I known about the contamination back in 2005, I wouldn't have bought this home that once seemed so perfect for us.
As it stands now, our house value has dropped nearly $30,000 in just the last year since the soil sampling began.
Now that the testing is complete and the findings have shown high levels of toxicity in the area, I can only imagine that next year's home assessment will reflect the results.
Neighbours are wanting to move to protect their families, but who are they going to sell their home to? Many will have to choose between staying put or selling at a loss and moving away, to protect their families from the higher risk of cancer.
As a community, this news is devastating. The fact that there are more questions than answers right now makes any outdoor activities terrifying.
In February, Alberta's Environmental Appeals Board decided that removing the soil from the area would put us residents at a higher risk of exposure and recommended that Domtar just manage the contamination by burying it deeper in the ground.
Environment Minister Shannon Phillips accepted the board's recommendations.
I feel that this decision was made without any regard to our community as a whole.
Our homes are losing value every year. Our streets are full of work trucks rumbling from dawn to dusk. Our children, who no longer have a safe place to play, can't even arrange a game of street hockey because of the congestion in the streets.
Every single wonderful reason we chose this neighbourhood is now gone. My confidence in the government is gone. And the knowledge that this has been an ongoing situation since the 1980s that was not disclosed to us when we bought our home just angers me more.
As a community, we are left with distrust, questions, and concerns about our homes and families.
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