Councillor calls on province to oversee cleanup

Transcona’s city councillor is demanding the province take control of the remediation of an auto parts yard ravaged by fire last week and civic officials enforce bylaws to prevent future disaster.

Coun. Russ Wyatt wants the province’s Environment Department to conduct soil and water testing to see what impact a grass fire last week had in the area after it engulfed Oluspe Auto Parts at 568 Gunn Rd.

“This is an environmental site now that should be quarantined and be regulated based on the provincial Environment Department, but there’s no one around to enforce it right now,” Wyatt told the Free Press Tuesday.

Wyatt says there should be responsible cleanup of the area due to the nature of what’s left on the property, including melted metal in ditches and heaps of ash laden with hazardous materials.

The May 12 grass fire ripped through the yard and affected several other businesses in the area. The business rented out plots for customers to store and salvage old cars.

The lot had at least 100 cars on it when the fire sparked.

The cause of the blaze is still under investigation.

Wyatt visited the site Tuesday morning and said he saw workers not wearing personal protective equipment while picking through shells of burned-out vehicles.

The councillor sent a formal request to Transcona’s MLA, Shannon Corbett, asking the province step in.

“This is how the province is when it comes to its environmental regulations… we might as well be in Guatemala, because that’s what they’re like when it comes to their enforcement,” Wyatt said. “And this speaks to it right now.”

Murray Rougeau shares Wyatt’s concerns and is worried about the health of firefighters who battled the blaze, as well as residents in the area.

The Transcona resident spent 38 years working for the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service and said he’s never seen smoke as thick and black as it was the day of the fire.

“It was scary,” he said. “And you could never breathe that smoke. If that started drifting into our residential area and schools, we would have had some serious problems.”

Property owners are responsible for cleanup and remediation of fire-damaged property, and would typically work with the city for any necessary demolition permits, city spokesman Kalen Qually said.

Environmental oversight would be the responsibility of the province.

The province conducted one inspection of 568 Gunn Rd. in November 2024 following a complaint about improper disposal of automotive fluids, but the complaint was ruled unsubstantiated.

The province did not respond Tuesday to questions about site remediation or what role it plays in ensuring environmental responsibility of the site.

Corbett said in an emailed statement the NDP government will “keep investing in prevention, emergency preparedness, and protecting the environment” but did not respond to questions about conducting soil or water testing near the auto parts yard.

In 2017, a test in St. Boniface revealed levels of heavy metals in the area’s soil exceeded federal guidelines, prompting concerns about contaminated garden vegetables.

At the time, a residents group blamed a nearby industrial park as the source of the contaminant.

Rougeau said the auto parts lot should never have been allowed to locate in the area.

He described the property as “chaotic” when it was in operation and claims the owner parked scrap vehicles on the shoulder of the road in front of the yard, creating an impediment.

“That yard should never have been allowed to even be so close to Transcona,” he said. “Something was not right there.”

Wyatt called the lot an example of “cowboy developments” and said the city needs to start enforcing its own bylaws.

After receiving a complaint about the business in February, Wyatt travelled to the site and claims it was a cramped, messy site that contravened bylaws, including having no customer parking or access for emergency personnel.

“The ability of our fire apparatuses and our staff last week to be able to get through the site would have been very problematic based on what I saw in February, and that speaks to the safety of our own staff when they’re fighting a fire,” he said.

To date, the city has not responded to any complaints about the property.

Wyatt said the grass fire at Oluspe and others in years past — including one at Speedway International fuel plant in 2012 — would be completely preventable if the city followed its own rules.

The Oct. 1, 2012 fire at Speedway International Inc., a biofuel manufacturer in St. Boniface, created a fireball visible for kilometres, forced the evacuation of hundreds of residents and caused $15 million worth of damage.

The business’s director, Royce Rostecki, later admitted to contravening multiple city bylaws and paid $4,800 in fines.

“If we were to proactively enforce our bylaws, we can become a more beautiful city and a safer city, and we’re not doing that,” Wyatt said.

The owner of Oluspe Auto Parts could not be reached Tuesday.

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca