Ecology Ottawa

News Clippings

City briefs: Support for Rock-sino, injection facility gets budget, parking limits extended, LRT expansion OK’d

Ottawa Citizen

By Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen, September 13, 2017

Stage 2 LRT stays on track

The city’s $3-billion Stage 2 transit expansion is on track thanks to council’s latest vote of confidence on Wednesday.

The key parts of this council approval were the proposed location of the Moodie Road LRT station, east of the road, and the storage and maintenance facility, which will be on the west side of the road.

The location of the station is controversial for some people in the Crystal Beach community who fear losing greenspace for an expanded transit station.

Rebuild of Ottawa River pathways going well: NCC

Metro Ottawa

By Ryan Tumilty, Ottawa Metro News, September 12, 2017

The NCC is hopeful pathways behind Parliament Hill can open relatively soon, but those on the north shore of the river will take longer.

The Mark Kristmanson, CEO of the commission's board, updated the rest of the board on the pathways, which spent weeks under water during this spring’s flooding, at a board meeting.

Kristmanson said work to repair the section behind the parliament buildings is underway and he’s hopeful it won’t be closed for too much longer.

Cohen: The environmental end-of-days is on its way

Ottawa Citizen

By Andrew Cohen, Ottawa Citizen, September 12, 2017

September brings the Days of Awe, the period between the Rosh Hashanah and the Day of Atonement. For Jews, it is a time of repentance, prayer and charity.

This year the Days of Awe are preceded by a new, secular interlude of anxiety. You don’t have to be Jewish to see it. You don’t have to read the Bible.

Just tune in to CNN. Listen to the warnings from officials around Hurricane Irma. To them this was the End of Days, an unprecedented, apocalyptic disaster.Watching the wall-to-wall television coverage, I found most particularly striking the talk of Doomsday from the authorities, principally Rick Scott, the governor of Florida.

Big bump in damage claims points to funding hole, councillor says - Ottawa - CBC News

By Laura Osman, CBC News Ottawa, September 11, 2017

This year's particularly pockmarked streets could be a symptom of a much larger hole — a $70 million funding gap for road and infrastructure maintenance — according to Coun. Diane Deans.

The major bumps and dips drivers have traversed all over Ottawa resulted in 778 damage claims filed against the city in the first six months of the year. That's nearly double as many as the same time frame last year.

"We're just not able to keep up with the problems that are created on our roadways," Deans said.

TransCanada may abandon Energy East pipeline facing tougher review - Calgary - CBC News

By Thomson Reuters, CBC News Ottawa, September 7, 2017

TransCanada will suspend the application for its Energy East pipeline for 30 days and may abandon the project, the company said on Thursday, weeks after the National Energy Board regulator announced a tougher review process.

TransCanada will do a "careful review" of the new assessment process to gauge its effect on the costs, schedules and viability of the pipeline to the Atlantic coast, the company said in a statement.

The National Energy Board in August expanded the scope of Energy East's review, saying it will consider the project's indirect greenhouse gas contributions and will provide "more visibility" to the evaluation of risks associated with accidents such as oil spills.

Extreme Weather, Climate Change and Envisioning a Bigger “Backyard” – Green Living Ottawa

By GreenLivingOttawa.com, September 10, 2017

I was once part of a conversation in which someone insisted that a person could do anything they wanted in their own backyard—contaminate the soil, cut down the trees—because it was theirs.Of course, the fact is that no “backyard” is separate from what’s around it, despite fences and concepts like private property. The soil, water, air, flora and fauna extend and connect beyond those physical and psychological barriers, integrating us ecologically and socially.

What’s happening in the world is not separate from us here in Ottawa. News about hurricanes, flooding and related catastrophes, drought and wildfires hits hard, whether or not we are directly connected with people and land affected. Climate change affects the intensity and severity of these events. Our response can’t be more of the same, old ways of thinking and (in)action.

Three years to repair Prince of Wales Bridge, says city

Metro Ottawa

By Kieran Delamont, Ottawa Metro News, September 10, 2017

The work required to repair the Prince of Wales Bridge such that it could be used to provide train service between Ottawa and Gatineau at some point in the future, would take at least three years, said the city in a letter to the Canadian Transport Agency on Friday.

The city noted, however, that it is making no firm commitments as to when they would be moving forward with repairing the bridge, or whether they were even planning on doing so at all.

Bike lanes for Booth Street Bridge

Metro Ottawa

By Kieran Delamont, Ottawa Metro News, September 10, 2017

By Correcting what is widely seen as a glaring error, the city will be installing bike lanes on the Booth Street Bridge between Albert Street and the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway.

The original plan for the bridge had initially included bike lanes, but they were ultimately scrapped by council ahead of construction. The move was widely seen as a mistake, including by Mayor Jim Watson, and in 2016 council earmarked $2 million to retroactively install cycling infrastructure.

Construction on the bike lanes is expected to begin in Spring 2018, and though initial renderings were released last week, the final design of the bike lane is not yet complete.

Today’s letters: Transit versus the environment

Ottawa Citizen

By Ian MacConnachie, Ottawa Citizen Letter to the Editor, September 8, 2017

We’re working to protect community

Re: Moodie LRT station’s location bad for green space, city told, Sept. 1.

The Crystal Beach Lakeview Community Association wants to clarify its position regarding the draft Environmental Project Report of the LRT extension to Moodie Drive.Our association worked hard over the summer to get the best possible results for a Moodie Drive LRT station design and light maintenance and storage facility location. Indeed, through collaboration with the community, Coun. Mark Taylor and city staff, we were successful in moving the facility to the west side of Moodie Drive away from fragile wetland and greenbelt lands.

LINKED: TransCanada may abandon Energy East pipe facing tougher review

StittsvilleCentral.ca

By StittsvilleCentral, September 7, 2017

Here’s an article from Reuters about the possible cancellation of the Energy East pipeline project. Plans include a portion of pipeline that travels just west of Stittsville, as shown in the map above. .About 70km of existing natural gas pipeline near Ottawa would be converted to carry crude oil.TransCanada Corp (TRP.TO) seeks to suspend the application for its Energy East pipeline for 30 days and may abandon the project, the company said on Thursday, weeks after Canada’s National Energy Board (NEB) announced a tougher review process.

Almost 300 tickets issued in five-day back-to-school safety sweep

Crime

News

By the Ottawa Sun, September 8, 2017

The results have been tabulated.

Ottawa police traffic offices issued a grand total of 294 provincial offence notices in their five-day safety enforcement campaign in and around Ottawa schools.

In particular, officers looked for: speeding; failing to stop, failing to yield to pedestrians at school crossings; failing to obey crossing guards; failing to obey school bus signs; and distracted driving.

West Nile's cruel summer: Insidious virus strikes Ottawa-area man - Ottawa - CBC News

 

By Laurie Fagan, CBC News Ottawa, September 8, 2017

At least five days a week during the summer, Robert Gibeault would head out fishing near his home in Crysler, Ont., about 50 kilometres southeast of Ottawa.

At his favourite spots along the Ottawa, Nation, and St. Lawrence rivers, he'd reel in pickerel, bass and perch.The fishing trips ended in August when Gibeault contracted West Nile virus.

On Aug. 22 he was admitted to the Civic campus of the Ottawa Hospital where his condition worsened. On Thursday he was moved to the intensive care unit and placed on a ventilator to help him breath.