Workers from the City of Burnaby may soon clean up an abandoned foundry that mysteriously went up in flames earlier this year and has since become a popular dumping ground.
At their next meeting, city council is expected to approve recommendations of a city manager’s report to allow staff onto the Globe Foundry property, located at 7647 Willard St., to bring it into compliance with Burnaby’s unsightly premises bylaw. The foundry caught fire in January and has remained untouched in a dilapidated state ever since, with trash piling up all over the site.
The site is considered contaminated by the Environment Ministry and has a history of issues, including WorkSafeBC violations, outstanding debts and two deaths in a trailer on the property in May 2013, which the report attributed to the use of a gas heater in a confined space.
Since November, the city has received five complaints regarding the unsightliness of the property. As reported by the NOW in March, area residents raised concerns that the foundry – run by the Ewasiuk family from the 1940s until late 2011 – could degenerate further or become a haven for homeless people or pyromaniacs.
“It seemed to attract people who like to cause trouble, dump garbage and set fires,” said Riverside resident Shawn Wade. “We don’t want it to become a theme park for arsonists.
“The reality is a lot of stuff has been dumped on that site for a number of years. Remediating that site will be difficult and very expensive,” he added. “Whoever takes on that site will have a big bill on their hands.”
The report notes that the city has had no response from the owners of the property, despite repeated letters to company directors. Nonetheless, the cost of the cleanup will be billed to the owner.
If the cleanup expenses are not paid by the end of the year, the report states that the cost will be added to the owner’s property taxes as taxes in arrears.
- With files from Cayley Dobie and Jennifer Moreau
