Waste Management has submitted an Environmental Compliance Approval application to the Ministry of Environment for the Carp Road landfill. It’s the latest step in the process to get approval to expand the facility, located just north of Stittsville and the Queensway.
Officially known as the “West Carleton Environmental Centre”, the landfill expansion will cover an area of 38 hectares, will have a maximum volume of 6.5-million cubic meters and take up to 400,000 tonnes of garbage each year.
(To put that number in perspective, the City of Ottawa collects about 200,000 tonnes of household waste yearly.)
You can review the documents relating to the latest application at http://wcec.wm.com/index.asp. Comments and questions on the proposal can be sent to Tesfaye Gebrezghi with the Ministry of Environment at Tesfaye.Gebrezghi@ontario.ca.
“The focus of the application is strictly about a new landfill and waste disposal,” said Harold Moore, a member of the “The Don’t Let Ottawa Go To Waste” coalition (NoDump.ca).
Moore says that’s contrary to how Waste Management has promoted the facility as a waste diversion and recycling center.
“I am very concerned that the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change would even entertain a proposal that is described in the application as an activity which is a threat to drinking water in an area identified ‘Highly Vulnerable Aquifer’ and ‘Significant Groundwater Recharge Area’,” he said.
Other recent developments on the Carp landfill file include the establishment of a Public Liaison Committee at the end of August. The group includes city councillors, members of the public and business community, and Waste Mangement representatives. The committee will provide “input and guidance” on the development and operation of the landfill if it’s approved.
Ottawa City Council approved a zoning application for the site on July 9 which would allow for a landfill.
Waste Management received formal approval for the environmental assessment (EA) for the site on September 5, along with conditions that Waste Management needs to meet to gain approval to build and operate the landfill. Conditions include:
- establishment of a complaints monitoring program and the
- creation of a community liaison committee to “provide a forum for public concerns” and “for mitigation measures to be discussed where appropriate”
- development of a formal process for addressing complaints about the landfill
- a plan for monitoring groundwater and surface water contamination
- a plan to monitor species at risk due to the development
- a property value protection plan
- More info about the conditions here
How do you feel about the Carp Road landfill expansion? Add your comments below or send an email to feedback@stittsvillecentral.ca
It is unbelievable that this government approved such large landfill so closed to residents location in capital city of Canada. It is right in the west of the city and more than 100,000 residents live within 10km from the landfill. I wish I knew it before I voted for this government.