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 meeting was hosted by the Glebe Community Association and the City of Ottawa. Panel members were Nancy Horton (Disposals and Environmental Remediation, City of Ottawa); Kevin Hicks and Stuart Bailey (AMEC Earth and Environmental), the consultants retained by the City to oversee environmental remediation at Lansdowne; Michael Heeringa and Carmelo Martinez (Ontario Ministry of the Environment); and Kevin Shipley (XCG Consultants Ltd. Environmental Engineers & Scientists, Kingston).
Yasir Naqvi, MPP, Ottawa Centre, and David Chernushenko, Councilor, Capital Ward, welcomed everyone. The City and AMEC outlined the remediation plan. AMEC consultants noted that the strip along Holmwood, which is slated for housing and landfill in the historic Rideau Canal inlet east of the Aberdeen Pavilion, is the contaminated soil area of "biggest concern". Heating oil spills, electrical transformer sites and ice-making plants operated in the Horticulture Building and the McElroy and Curl-O-Drome buildings also left contaminated soil.
Lansdowne Park is divided into three areas for remediation purposes. The residential development in the northwest corner and along Holmwood is Parcel A. Parcel B includes the stadium and Civic Centre, and does not require remediation because no change in use is planned. Parcel C is the park. Remediation standards for Parcels A and C are the most stringent. Because documents were filed last year, the Holmwood strip (Parcel A) will be remediated to 2004 standards, but the park (Parcel C) must meet stricter 2011 standards. Between April and August 2012, contaminated soil will be moved from Parcel A to accommodate an underground garage. Dust containment measures will be implemented. An estimated 26,000 cubic metres of contaminated soil will be wrapped in a geotextile membrane and capped with uncontaminated earth, in two berms in the park south and east of Frank Clair Stadium. Contamination under the proposed Children’s Garden and Heritage Orchard in Parcel C will be capped.
Ontario Ministry of the Environment (MOE) representatives stressed that the MOE must approve remediation plans for such a project and that it applies scientific standards to protect both human health and the environment. They outlined requirements for remediation of a site like Lansdowne Park, including a requirement for separate environmental site assessment documents for Parcel C. Ministry officers will monitor remediation.
The GCA had asked Kevin Shipley, the final panelist, to comment on the plan based on his professional expertise. Shipley thought additional sampling was warranted. Management of excavated material may pose problems. He thought that using a geotextile/geomembrane layer to cover contaminated material in berms could be effective, but cautioned that seams had to be carefully welded, that it could be damaged by heavy equipment during construction, and that its performance had to be monitored over its lifespan. Given the amount of material to be moved, he thought the Environmental Protection Act provisions related to establishment of a waste disposal site might trigger a requirement for the City to apply for a Certificate of Approval and consult the public. He was surprised at the lack of public consultation to date.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
The question and answer period yielded more information, but left a number of unanswered questions.
The amount of soil to be moved is estimated to be 6,000 dump truck loads, of which an estimated 2,000 loads are contaminated. Given that AMEC did more sampling during the summer of 2011, the City staff member made a commitment to post those results on the Lansdowne site in early November.
Other participants questioned what will happen to the construction waste from demolition of the Coliseum, the Horticulture Building and the stadium’s southside stands, the tearing up of asphalt and the felling of mature trees along Holmwood.
As well, some wondered how the integrity of the geotextile/geomembrane cover on contaminated material in the berms will be monitored, both in the short and long term.
There was considerable discussion about risk to the public from cleanup activities. AMEC representatives maintained it was very low, but some were dubious. When asked why the remediation was to be conducted under 2004 standards, rather than the more stringent 2009 or 2011 regulations, City staff responded that, in fact, the 2011 regulations were to be applied, and that use of the 2004 regulations was mainly to save time by avoiding a repeated application process.
Conclusion
Both our MPP and our Councillor committed to keeping the community informed of progress on the cleanup of Area A and the environmental site assessment related to Area B, and to holding further public consultation. Feedback suggests that people went away with a much better understanding of the issues around cleanup, especially for the immediate neighborhood.
Our thanks to panel members Virginia Carver, Walter Hendelman, Frank Johnson, Carol MacLeod, Ken Shipley and Jo Wood, who made up the GCA Environment Committee for this meeting. For information, contact the Environment Committee at environment@glebeca.ca.