The parcel is centrally located in the Production Support Area, and has historically been occupied by maintenance shops, as well as parking and storage area since the early 1900s. The Rail Finishing Mill is located to the north, and the former Wire and Nail Mills were located to the east (Figure 5-1).

Prior to the construction of the Boiler Shop, an ambulance garage and the line gang’s electric storage building stood in that location. Another garage, later used for the ambulance, was situated to the east of the Machine Shop, along with Mechanical Offices and the Riggers Shop. The construction and removal dates for these buildings can be found in Table D-1 in Appendix D.

The Engineering Building, which originally incorporated a Carpenter and Pattern Shop, remains on the site today, along with the water stand pipe and two small ancillary buildings. The water stand pipe is used to store water from the Sydney River water supply, and to increase water pressure. Underground sewer lines are suspected to cross this parcel of land.

Approximately a dozen buildings have been constructed in this area over the past 100 years including the 1903 Machine Shop, the Engineering Building (c. 1960), the 1920 Electrical Repair Shop, the Boiler Shop (c. 1945), and the George Beaton Machine Shop constructed in 1959. The latter three buildings were demolished in 2001 following a thorough environmental and utilities decommissioning program.

Prior to the construction of the Boiler Shop, an ambulance garage and the line gang’s electric storage building stood in that location. Another garage, later used for the ambulance, was situated to the east of the Machine Shop, along with Mechanical Offices and the Riggers Shop. The construction and removal dates for these buildings can be found in Table D-1 in Appendix D.

The Engineering Building, which originally incorporated a Carpenter and Pattern Shop, remains on the site today, along with the water stand pipe and two small ancillary buildings. The water stand pipe is used to store water from the Sydney River water supply. Underground sewer lines cross this parcel of land.

The Engineering Building is constructed of a combination of reinforced concrete, steel, glass and wood frame. The interior of the building consists of offices and document storage. The floors are constructed of potential asbestos containing floor covering. The walls are constructed of plaster partitions and the ceiling has drop-ceiling tiles. A concrete vault is located in the building and is currently used for document storage. Some of the ceiling tiles are stained indicating previous water leakage in the building.

Several railway tracks are located throughout this area and many have been abandoned and covered with slag. Environmental issues of concern associated with the rail tracks include creosote rail ties and potential contaminated soil under and adjacent to the tracks. In the past, used oil was often used for dust suppression on roadways on the steel plant property. The majority of open space in this area is covered with granular materials. Stormwater catchbasins are located throughout the area, presenting the possibility of siltation and sediment impacts to receiving waters.

Potential hazardous building material and environmental issues associated with the existing building may include lead-based paints, moulds associated with previous water leakage, asbestos containing floor tiles, asbestos pipe insulation, ozone-depleting substances, mercury-containing equipment and chemical storage.

Potential environmental issues consist of petroleum hydrocarbon, heavy metal, PAH, PCB, HNC and solvent impacts to soil and groundwater as a result of both on-site historic activities, and adjacent land uses such as the DOMTAR site located to the east (refer to Section 5.2.1).

Liquid Air Plant (SCU 10)

While the large steel tanks visible outside the buildings were used to store oxygen and other gases, petroleum storage tanks may exist on the property as well. As this land is leased by Liquid Air, SYSCO records do not include this information, and no such information was obtained during the current study.

Due to its close proximity to the former Coke Ovens and DOMTAR sites (refer to Section 5.2.1), as well as Coke Ovens Brook (Section 5.3.2), it is possible that subsurface soil and groundwater in this area are impacted by coal tar derivatives such as PAHs, HNCs, and heavy metals.