Ecology Ottawa

News Clippings

Ottawa’s emerald ash borer infestation is in decline, but that’s not necessarily good news

Ottawa Citizen

By Blair Crawford, Ottawa Citizen, August 11, 2017

Like a freeloading relative who cleans out the fridge then skips town, Ottawa’s emerald ash borers are moving on. After eight years and 50,000 tree removals, the voracious tree-killing beetle infestation appears to be on the decline. The reason? There’s just not that much left for it to eat.

“We are, in a sense, over some of the more significant and difficult years of large numbers of tree removals,” said Jason Pollard, a forester with the City of Ottawa.

Waiting on a train: How Ottawa’s Confederation LRT Line is taking shape around us

Ottawa Citizen

By Matthew Pearson, Ottawa Citizen, August 12, 2017

Through a chain-link fence I watch as a ready-mix truck backs into place and lowers its trough. A river of wet concrete flows to the pump truck and up a large robotic arm, the boom, which extends high above a square section of earth. The workers barely say a word to each other. They’ve done this so many times before they could probably do it now with their eyes closed. I have stood on this side of the fence before, watching the Confederation LRT Line come to life.

I once walked the entire length of it, from Blair station to Tunney’s Pasture — and even swam across the Rideau River — for a series of stories dubbed Walk the Line. The goal was to see for myself all the neighbourhoods and nooks the LRT line will touch as it cuts an east-west path across the city centre once it opens in 2018.

Construction association defends firms building LRT amid safety complaints - Ottawa - CBC News

By Ashley Burke, CBC News Ottawa, August 11, 2017

The president of the Ottawa Construction Association is defending the companies building Ottawa's light rail network after a CBC News story revealed workers have filed dozens of complaints about reportedly dangerous conditions.

John DeVries said he has minimal knowledge or insight into the project's safety records — but he does know that "world-class firms" with top safety protocols and management systems are working on the project and "doing their best."

How do you get school kids to eat their veggies? Get them to grow it themselves

Metro Ottawa

By Kieran Delamont, Ottawa Metro News, August 9, 2017

Jen Coorsh is fond, it seems, of quoting the environmental writer Michael Pollan. At least twice during a food planting workshop for young people, Croosh reaches for his famous quote: you eat three times a day, so you vote with your fork three times a day.

That mentality—to view food as something that we are deeply connected to, whether we realize it or not—is something that Coorsh, through the Growing Up Organic program, is hoping to instill in children across the Ottawa region.

For the last two years, Growing Up Organic (which has been in operation in various incarnations for a decade) has pivoted towards working in schools, thanks to a funding partnership with the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board. “The culture in Ottawa is really ripe for this,” said Coorsh, the project manager, noting the popularity of community food programs in many parts of the city.

Ottawa camp warns kids as cases of Lyme disease increase - Ottawa - CBC News

By Matthew Kupfer, CBC News Ottawa, August 9, 2017

More people are taking precautions as the number of Lyme disease cases in Ottawa rises.There have been 61 cases of Lyme disease reported in Ottawa since May. Ottawa Public Health (OPH) determined the city an at-risk area for Lyme disease, with more than one in five ticks testing positive for the disease in 2016.

There were 34 cases in the month of July and 21 in June.

Ontario energy minister says hydro talks with Quebec still underway

Ottawa Citizen

By Allison Jones, Ottawa Citizen, August 8, 2017

TORONTO Ontario is negotiating a possible agreement to buy electricity from Quebec, but the government is disputing a published report that it is preparing to sign a deal for enough electricity to power a city the size of Ottawa.

La Presse reported Tuesday that it obtained a copy of a draft, 20-year deal that says Ontario would buy eight terawatt hours per year from Quebec — about six per cent of Ontario’s consumption — whether the electricity is consumed or not.

(...)Any future agreements with Quebec will have to provide a reduction in Ontario electricity costs compared with other alternatives and demonstrate measurable reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, he wrote.

OC Transpo route changes coming this fall

Metro Ottawa

By Kieran Delamont, Ottawa Metro News, August 7, 2017

More changes are coming to OC Transpo bus routes and numbers this September as the transit agency continues to rejig its network in advance of the opening of the Confederation Line next year.

As part of OC Transpo’s ongoing ‘Ready for Rail’ campaign, seven routes will be re-named beginning on Sept. 3.

Some routes, like the 114 and the 128 to Greenboro, are being combined into a single, frequent-service route. Others, like the 62, 91, and 94 (among others) are having their schedules altered. Confusing? At times, yes.

Monarch butterfly populations in Ottawa on the upswing - Ottawa - CBC News

By CBC News Ottawa, August 6, 2017

After two decades of steady decline, Ottawa is starting to see more monarch butterflies around the city. In the early 90s, there were over one billion monarchs in Canada, but in the following years more than 80 per cent of them died off.

Forests being cut down and overusing pesticides contributed to the decline, Jeremy Kerr, a biologist at the University of Ottawa, told CBC Radio's All in a Day.

Summer of no-swim days? Advisories up this year in Ottawa - Ottawa - CBC News

By Elise Von Scheel and Joe Lofaro, CBC News Ottawa, August 6, 2017

Most of the city's public beaches are safe for swimming Sunday, but you won't find a green flag flying at Westboro Beach.

The city's daily water quality test shows there is a high level of E. coli bacteria, prompting a no-swim advisory. The scene at Westboro beach is a familiar one for anyone keeping track of no-swim advisories for beaches across the city since June. Weeks of persistent rain and issues with flooded beaches have left Ottawa with a summer of no-swim days.

Ottawa alight with the glow of fireflies - Ottawa - CBC News

By CBC News Ottawa, August 7, 2017

If you think you are seeing more fireflies in the nation's capital this summer, you are not alone.

Many people in Ottawa have reported seeing the bioluminescent bugs flying around their urban gardens or at the soccer field.

"We're seeing pretty good numbers this year and then also surprisingly even in urbanized areas … we are getting a lot of reports of more fireflies than have been out recently," said Marc Branham, a professor at the University of Florida who has studied fireflies for more than 20 years.

Orléans, Cumberland to be linked by new bike, walking paths

Ottawa Citizen

By Matthew Pearson, Ottawa Citizen, August 7, 2017

Stephen Blais leans over the handlebars of his bike and looks to the south, where a crew of construction workers is turning a strip of grass along a hydro corridor in the Avalon subdivision into a new multi-use path.

Joggers, cyclists, in-line skaters, dog walkers and folks out for an evening stroll will soon be able to choose it to get from Innes Road to the southern edge of Ottawa’s urban boundary without stepping foot on a busy arterial road.

The path will also intersect with the new east-west Trans-Orléans multi-use path, a 3.2-kilometre link between Millennium Park and transit station on Trim Road to the commercial hub at Innes and Tenth Line roads.

City puts final touches on pedestrian and cycling crosswalk on Bronson - Ottawa - CBC News

By CBC News Ottawa, August 5, 2017

Five years after a cyclist was killed on Bronson Avenue, the city has put the final touches on a pedestrian and cycling crosswalk on the busy road just north of Sunnyside Avenue.

Twenty-seven-year-old Krista Johnson, an avid runner and city cyclist, was struck by a car and killed on Bronson Avenue in October 2012.The Carleton University student was cycling home at the time.