Clean-up continues at 249 Hess st.

[projekktor id=’27185′]

Crews are nearly finished cleaning up an abandoned Hamilton property contaminated with more than 200 barrels of toxic waste. The Ministry of Environment first ordered the clean up in 2010 but the previous owner never complied. Now that the city has taken ownership of 249 Hess street the work is finally being done.

Workers removed the last of the barrels full of acid and other chemicals relating to electroplating from the Hess street property Thursday afternoon. Officials say all the toxic liquid has been cleared but crews are still working on cleaning up solid waste from the site.

The ground still has to be tested after 50 barrels were tipped over last year but after testing runoff water, public health has determined there is no current threat. A project manager for the clean-up say that they expect to have all the toxic materials off the property before Friday morning.

The toxic waste is being sent to Envirosystems, a waste transfer station in east Hamilton where the materials will be sorted before being sent to locations where it can be properly disposed.

The city took ownership of the property last week hoping to eventually recoup some, if not all, of the $380 000 owed to them by the former owner for the cleanup and years of unpaid taxes. The clean-up is expected to be finished this weekend, no word yet on when the buildings will be demolished.