“The ministry has told us that at some point in time, they’re going to require us to put some sort of measurement in place to stop the migrating off site,” Andrew Schell, the city’s director of environmental services, said following Monday night’s council committee meeting. “Ultimately, the sooner we act … the less contamination.”

In a close vote, city politicians carried a motion to hire Coffey Geotechnics and its subcontractor, Ground Force Environmental Inc., to provide a detailed study on remediation options for 255 West St. S. at a cost of $40,000, plus tax.

Although 255 West St. S. is no longer an industrial property, chemicals, including dense non-aqueous phase liquids — otherwise known as DNAPLs — are buried deep beneath the surface and are spreading via groundwater into the south ward.

Coffey and Ground Force are proposing new technology to bolster the number of naturally occurring, tiny, single-cell organisms called microbes in the groundwater to counter the DNAPLs over a six-year period, according to the work plan before council committee Monday.

The cost of the project is estimated to be between $3.3 million and $4.5 million, but first, Coffey and Ground Force need to find out if it’s even possible.

The study approved by council committee will also look at the price tag attached to addressing heavy metals and other chemicals in the ground.

The city’s chief financial officer, Bob Ripley, said there are grant opportunities that could cover up to half of the bill.

Schell said he expects the study will be completed by December.

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