An environmental consulting firm was working on a small plot of the downtown Community Gardens this week, but they weren't digging for winter vegetables.
Hemerra has been hired to do some follow-up remediation of the city-owned site, which used to house the Paramount Theatre and the Ewert building. Workers spent several days on site, moving aside some of the community garden plots to prepare an area for testing.
Jamie Leggatt, communications manager for the City of Chilliwack, said the remediation began when the Ewert building first was removed.
"A dry cleaner existed on that site years ago," she said. The work this week was just a follow on the initial remediation.
"They're putting down some plastic and doing some testing," she said.
Only a small portion of the gardens were affected by the work, at the western end of the gardens closest to Dragon's Dynasty Restaurant. The plots that were removed earlier this week were being moved back into place on Thursday.
Leggatt said the city has been in touch with Ruth and Naomi's, who manage the gardens. Other than a few bushes and trees, there are currently no vegetable or fruit crops in the gardens.
jpeters@theprogress.com