By the Environment Committee of the Glebe Community Assocation

About 120 people attended a lively meeting on October 27 at the Glebe Community Centre to learn about city plans to remediate contaminated soil at Lansdowne Park.

The final Lansdowne Environmental Assessment Reports have now been uploaded to the Lansdowne link on the city's website www.ottawa.ca.

http://ottawa.ca/residents/public_consult/lansdowne_partnership/reports_en.html
http://ottawa.ca/residents/public_consult/lansdowne_partnership/reports_fr.html

Here are the details:

The City of Ottawa will be holding a public meeting to discuss the remedial action plan (RAP) in support of the redevelopment plan for Lansdowne Park. The RAP was prepared to establish a strategy and plan of action to manage contaminated and impacted soils stemming from historic site uses and activities. 
Thursday, October 27, 2011 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.
Presentations from 7:30 to 8:00 pm; Q & A session from 8 to 9:30 p.m. 
Glebe Community Centre

The Glebe Community Association has outlined the concerns about contamination at Lansdowne Park and the City of Ottawa plans for remediation to the Province of Ontario Ministry of the Environment in the following letter.

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March 10, 2011

Steve Burns, District Manager
Ministry of the Environment
Ottawa District Office
2430 Don Reid Drive
Ottawa, ON, K1H 1E1

steve.burns@ontario.ca

Dear Mr. Burns

Re: Redevelopment of Lansdowne Park

I am writing to you in response to a February 16, 2011 letter from Gayla Campney, Regional Director Eastern Region, who advised contacting you regarding continued community concerns about the Lansdowne Park redevelopment. This letter further reiterates the concerns expressed in our letters to the Minister of Environment dated December 31, 2010 and January 31, 2011 and requests actions to address them.

We are particularly concerned that the City of Ottawa has sought an extension from the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) to conduct remediation based on the 2004 standards rather than the more recent 2009 standards and that this has been granted. It would seem obvious that the 2009 standards are based on better and more recent science, and would thus be more protective of human health and the environment. This is particularly true in light of the prominence of the site, the situation within a densely populated area near to dwellings, restaurants, schools, long term care facilities, and the site’s proximity to the World Heritage Rideau canal.

Because Lansdowne Park is located in such a densely populated urban area, it is crucial for all parties to exercise due diligence. Therefore we request further action from the MOE in a number of areas:

December 31, 2010

The Honourable John Wilkinson
Minister of the Environment
11th Floor, Ferguson Block
77 Wellesley Street West
Toronto, ON., M7A 2T5

By e-mail to: minister.moe@ontario.ca

Re: Redevelopment of Lansdowne Park

Dear Minister Wilkinson,

As president of the Glebe Community Association (GCA), I am writing to express the concerns of the GCA board and of the many residents near Lansdowne Park about the next stages of the proposed development of Lansdowne Park.

An updated version of the peer review of the Lansdowne Environmental Assessment has been provided to Friends of Lansdowne and the detailed report by XCG Consultants is available here.