Gardeners in St. Boniface are being told not to panic after media reports in the summer saying there could be contaminants in the soil.

The media reports came after the South St. Boniface Residents Association raised concerns, and University of Manitoba associate professor Shirley Thompson carried out preliminary tests that found elevated levels of lead, zinc, and copper in the soil.

A press conference was held at the Legislature yesterday, led by sustainable development minister Rochelle Squires, to provide more context for the soil sample results.

Squires told reporters testing shows no reason for concern in residential and recreational areas.

"The results of the soil sampling indicate that six of the eight sites do not exceed the applicable guideline limits for that particular land use set by the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment... of the other two sites, one is located within the St. Boniface Industrial Park, where there are known impacts, and the second is adjacent to an active impacted site where lead and copper may have migrated," said Squires.

There are four categories for guideline limits: industrial, commercial, residential and parkland, and agricultural. Lead found in the soil at Happyland Park exceeded the agricultural limit but was below the guideline for residential and parkland.

Dr. Francis Zvomuya, a U of M soil science department professor, was part of the press conference. He says use best-management practices and don't let your vegetables go to waste.

"The last thing that I want to see is, like, you know, residents in panic selling their houses, you know, because there are contaminants out there. Just don't panic, that's my message to the residents," said Dr. Zvomuya.

Squires says the concerns over eating St. Boniface garden veggies may persist, but any risks can be mitigated by following proper precautions, "such as thoroughly washing your vegetables and hands, using raised garden beds, and putting new soils into gardens on a regular basis."

Don Labossiere, the director of environmental compliance and enforcement for Manitoba Sustainable Development, and St. Boniface city councillor Matt Allard were also part of yesterday's press conference.

Labossiere says they will continue to look at lead in soils, and fully characterizing the Mission Industrial Area. He calls the industrial park a unique site and says trying to attribute any contaminant to one particular source would be very difficult to do, but he says his department has been trying to determine the history of the area and their work going forward will hopefully give them a better understanding of what's happening there. Labossiere also says air quality testing will begin next month.