As part of a green-inspired effort to limit the damage toxic wastes can inflict on human health and the environment, the latest federal budget allocated $217 million to clean up Crown-owned contaminated sites across Canada.

They exist as a result of improper handling and storage of waste over many decades — historical mistakes that have placed the soil and groundwater beneath our feet in jeopardy.

Of the more than 150 such sites in Toronto, the Star took a look at six situated along Lake Ontario’s shoreline to learn where the acids, pesticides and metals of the past are festering underground.