Dumping of soil raises fears among opponents of Daman Farm development

A group of residents in South St. Vital worry a proposed development on an area of renaturalized former agricultural land could pose a risk to their drinking water and the surrounding wildlife. 

While residents have called for work on the property known as Daman Farm to halt, the area councillor says the developer has the necessary permits and has changed its project to protect the groundwater.

The fight between residents and the owner of the property, A&S Homes, goes back years, but reignited earlier this year when trucks began dumping soil from the nearby University of Manitoba's Southwood Circle project onto the land, south of the Perimeter Highway, between the Red River and St. Mary's Road.

Mounds of soil now cover the overgrown farm fields on the property, raising fears among residents over how it could impact the surrounding ecosystem, and possible drainage issues onto neighbouring properties.

"This will never be recovered if that soil is put on this property," said Bill Lopuck, one of the residents.

"We want the dumping stopped. We want the soil removed."

The dumping continued for weeks, until city officials issued a stop work order on Feb. 14 because the property owner did not have the proper permit.

The city later approved a permit for "temporary stockpiling of fill" on Feb. 23, city spokesperson Kalen Qually wrote in an email to CBC News.

"Any work beyond the scope of 'stockpiling,' including lot grading, would require additional development permits," Qually wrote.

Although the city's permit only applies to stockpiling soil, St. Norbert-Seine River Coun. Markus Chambers told CBC News the soil was being brought in by the developer as fill to prepare the land for future development.

"It's my understanding that there was an agreement between the University of Manitoba … and the developer to bring in that clean fill," he said.

"It's a business opportunity that the developer couldn't pass on free fill. It is a matter of flood protecting the area."

CBC News requested comment from A&S Homes, but did not receive a response.

A spokesperson for UM Properties, the lead developer on the Southwood project, wrote in an email that it hired a contractor to remove clean soil as part of riverbank stabilization work.