CALGARY—Two decades ago, toxic remnants of a former Imperial Oil refinery forced most residents of Lynnview Ridge in southeast Calgary to leave their homes behind.

But now, after a $31-million cleanup effort, the site is almost ready to open to the public again. A network of riverfront bike paths is expected to open next month, while the green space known as Old Refinery Park is set to be unveiled in October.

“I’m very thrilled,” said Tim Mather, whose household was one of 11 that declined Imperial Oil’s offers to buy their contaminated property. His yard has since been cleaned up, and he lives in the home to this day.

“We’ve been waiting with bated breath.”

The Imperial Oil refinery in Lynnview Ridge started operating in the 1920s, and closed in the 1970s. In the next decade, the city began developing the land into a neighbourhood.

However, the land was “severely polluted by oil spills,” according to the City of Calgary, and testing in 2001 found hydrocarbons and dangerously high levels of lead. Imperial Oil bought out all but 11 homes in the area and the neighbourhood was mostly abandoned.

Mather said he didn’t move because he didn’t feel Imperial’s offer would properly compensate him for the loss of his home. But many in the neighbourhood were “dismayed and concerned,” he said — at the time, his three children were young, and he worried about putting their health at risk.

Mather’s home was declared safe in 2009.

In 2014, after years of court battles, the city and Imperial agreed on a cleanup plan for the park area, with Imperial paying for 60 per cent of the work on public lands in Lynnview Ridge, Beaverdam Flats, Old Refinery Park and the nearby Pop Davies Park.

Trent Parks, the City of Calgary’s leader for environmental risk and liability, said the cleanup project involved pumping out contaminated water, cleaning it and reinjecting it into the ground. There’s also an underground barrier wall to block any remaining toxins from leaching into the Bow River.

This work isn’t over yet — the water treatment will continue after the space reopens to the public, and monitoring stations will be checked monthly by city staff.

Though the land wouldn’t be safe for human habitation, Parks said, there’s no risk to those wishing to visit the green space.

Mather said his family is excited to finally enjoy their neighbourhood like they did two decades ago. They feel grateful, he added, for the province and the city’s efforts to restore the land to what it was.

“Since the cleanup, we feel very comfortable where we are,” he said.

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The city councillor for the area, Gian-Carlo Carra, said he isn’t quite sure how the newly cleaned land will be used yet. Though several ideas are floating around, most of Old Refinery Park will be a blank slate, and he’s open to suggestions.

“We’ve got a huge parcel of land that’s now safe to use.”

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