Park set to open in once-contaminated Lynnview Ridge in southeast Calgary

The once-contaminated Lynnview Ridge district in southeast Calgary is set to reopen this spring as a new greenspace.

Hundreds of residents were forced to leave their homes in the area almost two decades ago when it was discovered that the land the former site of a refinery was toxic.

Trent Parks, the leader for environmental risk and liability for the city, says a lot of work has been done to make the area safe.

"It's fantastic. This is something that's been there for a long time and we've been working on it for a lot of years, and we're just really excited to get it back into public use again," he said.

"We have done everything we possibly can to make sure it's safe. A lot of studies, human health risk assessments, environmental risk assessments. That plan was then vetted through Alberta Environment to make sure it was going to be protective of human health and the environment."

Bike paths through the park should be open in May. The rest of the park is expected to open in October, once the new vegetation has had time to grow.

The Imperial Oil petroleum facilityoperated inthe areafrom 1924 to 1975 and was later developed into the Lynnview Ridge subdivision.

After the contamination was discovered in 2001, Imperial Oil bought and demolished 142 homes and several apartment blocks in the neighbourhood.

• MORE CALGARY NEWS|Parents of paralyzed Humboldt Broncos player deal with phoney fundraiser
• MORE CALGARY NEWS|How Calgarians should prepare in case of emergency