| Bakelite Thermosets A bit of info... The Bakelite Thermosets Ltd building was erected in 1947. They mainly manufactured kitchen appliances , plates , resistors , numerous other things for use on power lines since Bakelite does not conduct electricity , and the very precious bakelite jewlery which go at autions at around $8000. Bakelite is no longer manufactured in North America. Owned by Union Carbide, The closure of the plant was a result of the gas leak in India in the early 1980's. June 18 , 1989 , Bakelite Belleville closed its doors at the end of the day, 5 pm. Almost 400 workers without jobs. After almost 40 years of chemicals such as Phenolic-Formaldehyde and PCB's leaching into the ground, Belleville has gotten ever closer to destroying the chemical laden legacy of the Bakelite-Thermosets factory.With the closure of the Bakelite factory, Belleville's economy went in a steep dive. from 1990 to 1993, the local economy suffered severely. In 1994, another division of HALLA climate control opened bringing more that 500 jobs to the area. The plant operated for almost 50 years and produced everything from plastic resins to formaldehyde when it was shut down in 1990, leaving a chemical-laden legacy on about 35 hectares of land that documents say contain polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The compounds can affect reproduction in animals through exposure over long periods. While more than 500 drums of chemical waste from the plant were voluntarily removed from the property under Ministry of Environment supervision, the extent of contamination from years of manufacturing products by way of highly corrosive and combustible compounds is not fully known. Tax records show the Bakelite property is more than $1 million in arrears for unpaid property taxes, a figure that may be forgivable under the new brownfields legislation. “Over the past 12 years, many environmental investigations and site remediation activities have been undertaken, including decommissioning of a number of former storage lagoons and the off-site disposal of associated contaminated soils; removal and off-site disposal of buried drums of solid and liquid industrial wastes; removal and off-site disposal of PCB impacted sludges; and decommissioning of a concrete settling basin,” the city report stated. Bakelite was a division of Union Carbide, union Bakelite went bankrupt on paper. City officials were beaming as news of a new $100 million development was unveiled at the former Bakelite-Thermosets site in east Belleville. Mayor George Zegouras handed over a demolition permit to Mississauga developer James Sinclair, owner of Demolition & Recycling Inc. who pledged to remediate the former industrial site as soon as possible. Zegouras said city residents, most notably those in the east end of the city, would be extremely pleased to hear that the abandoned plant will be put under the wrecking ball perhaps as soon as Christmas and the surrounding polluted property will be remediated. “We have been waiting for a long time for something to happen at this site,” said Zegouras. “We know there is contamination here and there are concerns that have been expressed.” By cleaning up the site and removing the crumbling plant, the eastern end of the city on the bayfront will be radically improved for generations to come, said Zegouras. Developer Sinclair confirmed to a large gathering in front of the former resins and formaldehyde plant on Dundas Street East that he plans to build a major residential highrise development, a marina as well as a massive commercial mall on the 35-hectare property. Estimates peg the cost of a mall at $40 million, the highrises at $40 million and a new marina at $20 million. The intent, said Sinclair, is to build three highrises containing a total of 570 permanent condominium suites that would be serviced by a main-floor restaurant that would provide room-service. Sinclair said he wants to build a large mall as well that would front on to Dundas Street and contain not only retail stores, but also a slew of medical and personal services for seniors living in the highrises to be built along the Bay of Quinte. As a finishing touch, Sinclair said he plans to build a major new boat marina that would be covered to provide boat owners with a sanctuary from the sun. To get there, however, Sinclair said the site will first have to be prepared to play host to such an ambitious project. With a demolition permit now in hand, Sinclair will have to get approvals from agencies such as the Ministry of Environment and Quinte Conservation to tear down the aging Bakelite-Thermosets factory — formerly the Union Carbide plant — that was closed in 1990. Sinclair said he first started working on the project four years ago after city resident Paul Finkle introduced him to the property and suggested it had strong development potential. Six weeks ago, Sinclair said he resumed the project in full stride and is now moving to demolish the 260,000-square-foot Bakelite plant as part of a major clean-up. “What I originally proposed to the mayor and council was a retail shopping mall out here in the form of a Belleville village, with a theme of an 1890s little town,” said Sinclair. “I also want to create three buildings of residential living second to none. Each building will be 20 storeys high and every suite will be looking out over the bay,” he said. Sinclair insisted the development will happen because it will take a lot of his own money to begin the project. He said there is no merit in spending $1.5 million to tear down the existing plant and dispose of it without following the project through to the end where profits lie. In addition, the project will be a success, he said, because of the right number of investors who believe in his vision of developing “one of the most unique pieces of waterfront anywhere in Canada.” By putting retail, residential and marine themes together in one campus, Sinclair said he was creating a lifestyle that would suit all kinds of people, especially those who are retiring and are looking for a different way to live in style. Coun. George Beer, chairman of the city’s economic development commission, lauded Sinclair for the heavy investment. “This is an historic announcement that everyone has been waiting for, for a number of years,” said Beer. “We on council have taken a lot of flak on what to do about this site over the years.” Bill Finkle said he was glad to see his original idea blossom and said it wouldn’t be possible without the province’s Bill 56, an act to develop so-called brownfields across Ontario into usable properties once again. The brownfields legislation encourages developers to tackle and clean-up old industrial sites, especially those on waterfronts, by giving them tax incentives that can be used toward environmental remediation of polluted lands. “Thanks to the brownfields legislation, I convinced Jim to take this on,” said Finkle. Prince Edward-Hastings PC candidate John Williams said he was glad to see the government’s legislation was making the Bakelite announcement possible, noting it is good for business, and the environment. “The key to legislation like this is that it allows things like this to go forward. Developers can be winners as well as the community and the environment,” said Williams. “It’s nice to see, especially with a property like this one. It makes sense to clean up bad areas and make them liveable again,” Williams said. Liberal incumbent for the riding Ernie Parsons said “not all governments do everything wrong. This is good legislation. This is a bill that I supported in the legislature. “We have some of the best waterfront in the province but some of is abandoned past industrial property. It’s good to see that we can now move to get these properties cleaned up and returned to the community,” said Parsons. Ministry of Environment (MOE) district supervisor John Tooley was also at the announcement and said he was pleased to see movement being made on the Bakelite property. “Our main concern for the last 10 years was to clean up the site but we haven’t had much success. From what I’m hearing today, it sounds like there will be a plan to clean this place up and that makes us happy,” said Tooley. As much as $2 million was spent in the early to mid-1990s, said Tooley, by the now defunct Bakelite company to clean up the site as best it could of a range of corrosive and acidic materials and hundreds of chemical drums were removed from the property. But, given the plant’s long history — it has operated since 1948 — there are serious gaps from decades ago of the industrial activity at the site and what still remains underground. Not until the mid-1970s under a new Environmental Protection Act in Ontario, were plants forced to abide by strict guidelines regarding chemical use in the manufacturing sector. “With the plant being so old,” said Tooley, “we don’t know what went on and we don’t what they did between 1948 and 1975. We have no records.” Tooley said the new developers will have to provide the MOE with a list of what chemicals they know are on site and buried within a known chemical landfill site still remaining at the Bakelite property. With that list in hand, the environment ministry can help Sinclair best develop a clean-up plan to remediate the property enough to meet residential needs. Tooley said Sinclair will also have to provide a report on plans for demolition because of the “asbestos still inside the plant. We have to be assured that the workers involved in the demolition will not be exposed to asbestos during the tearing down of the old plant.” Sinclair, meanwhile, said once the building is taken down, clean up preparations will get underway. Who wants to live there? To totally remove all of the contaminated soil, Sinclair would have to dig down 1 mile to the clean soil. In October, Sinclair took to the front wall of the office complex closest to Dundas with a front-end loader. Knowing very well that there is Asbestos in the factory, he took no precautions and tore down the lower half of the front wall before the police showed up. On Saturday, February 28 2004, Arsonists took to one of the prime UE spots in Belleville with a vengance. Lighting half of the front offices on fire. It was quickly contained and extinguished. |