Arcadia will soon be a thriving community in west Ottawa.  The 200-acre site just north of the Queensway and east of Huntmar Drive (across the highway from Scotiabank Place, in other words) will eventually house about 1,500 homes, along with commercial space, a school, a community pond and bike and walking paths to parks.  Here’s a pic of the current view from Arcadia.

The Deadline for comment to MOE  Charlene.Cressman@ontario.ca is extended to Tuesday April 2, 2013 because of the Easter holidays.

Here is a quick summary of some of the main issues you might want to use in your comment to the MOE.

coalition comments on MOE review for city councillors_v2

The coalition sends a detailed and informative letter to the new Premier of Ontario Kathleen Wynne.

letter to Premier Mar 20 2013

The Ontario Ministry of the Environment review of Waste Management’s Environmental Assessment(EA) for a proposed new landfill on Carp Rd. is now published. The review can be viewed at:
 
http://www.downloads.ene.gov.on.ca/files/eaab/west_carleton_review.pdf   or download the review  WCEC landfill Ministry Review

 
Information on the amended EA can be found at;
 
http://wcec.wm.com/resources.asp    
The public has until March 29 to comment.   To:  Charlene.Cressman@ontario.ca  & minister.moe@ontario.ca

or mail To:

Agatha Garcia-Wright, Director

Environmental Approvals Branch

Ministry of the Environment

2 St. Clair Avenue West, Floor 12A

Toronto, Ontario M4V 1L5

Fax: 416-314-8452

Re: Environmental Assessment for a New Landfill Footprint at the West Carleton Environmental Centre

Attention: Charlene Cressman, Special Project Officer

Stay tuned for more information….

Marielle Gauthier is presented with a cheque for $2,500 by Harold Moore of the coalition of citizens groups against a new landfill in our community, for her winning video in the coalition’s “Earth Day Video Contest”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gb_Eez3vS4g&feature=youtu.be

Her video “It’s not easy being green. We’ve done things wrong, now it’s time to make things right.” was chosen as the video that best  illustrates the wastefulness/dangers of the current practice of utilizing landfill sites for garbage disposal and the benefits of the alternatives thereto.

Also at the presentation were Matthieu Gauthier the star of the video and councillor Shad Qadri.

Marielle’s mother said “The  contest idea was a terrific way for youth to become interested in the issues affecting Stittsville and the communities surrounding the dump”.

Today’s thought question involves landfills: What would be the economic effect if we completely eliminated landfills and recycled everything? Check out the answer.

http://marshallbrain.com/etq-landfills.htm

Although each landfill has unique costs and each of the components can vary considerably, it is safe to say that the tipping fee does not cover the full cost of a landfill operation. The tipping fee primarily covers operator cost components and some regulatory costs. A literature review shows that generally the true cost of a landfill is two or more times the tipping fee.

TRUE COST OF LANDFILLS

Neco Cockburn in his January 14, 2013 article (Ottawa Citizen) “Mer Bleue cross-country ski trail closed for soil remediation project” presents important information on the environmental and social impacts of old garbage dumps. The Ridge Road landfill was operated back in the 1960s and 1970s by the city of Ottawa to dispose of municipal waste. Since it closed in 1975 it has been monitored for environmental impacts.

All comments on the proposed new dump on Carp Rd. should now go to;

Special Project Officer

On November 9, 2012 the coalition of community groups against a new landfill, briefed MOE on the many flaws in the Environmental Assessment for an expansion to the Carp Road dump.

EA_PresentationNov2012