The battle between a Bowness gas station, nearby residents, and Alberta Environment may finally be coming to an end.
The Environmental Appeals Board will soon decide what Gas Plus must do to clean up its property in the northwest community.
A leak was discovered at the gas station in April 2010 and an estimated 9,000 litres of fuel leaked into the ground.
A resident on Bowness Road alerted Alberta Environment about the smell of gasoline in their basement.
Residents were told to leave their homes after high levels of chemicals were found in the soil.
The province ordered Gas Plus to excavate the site and clean it up but Gas Plus appealed saying that the order was an overreaction.
The two sides went back and forth for months and this week, the Environmental Appeals Board is finally hearing both arguments.
Gas Plus, Bowness residents, soil experts and health officials are all weighing in.
"It's important for everybody that's been impacted, everybody involved to get a chance to present their information," said Carrie Sancartie of the Environmental Appeals Board
Andy Ross bought property in the area but the city won't let him build there until the site has been remediated.
"We moved back into a little rental accommodation to save money to build our dream house and we kind of feel like a year of our lives has been robbed from us because they keep delaying and refusing to remediate the spill," said Ross.
The board heard from experts who testified that high, potentially dangerous levels of toxic chemicals are still present in the area.
The hearing is expected to wrap up on Thursday and a final decision should be made within a month.
