Ecology Ottawa

News Clippings

Egan: 10 years later, Russell Mills leaves NCC, defends Tunney’s as best hospital site

Ottawa Citizen

By Kelly Egan, Ottawa Citizen, April 5, 2017

Russell Mills chaired the first-ever regular public board meeting of the National Capital Commission on Nov. 7, 2007, “public” being the rocket in that historic launch.

On Thursday, he chairs his last, ending a 10-year run in what is possibly the capital’s most ridiculously demanding job.

Be a nation-builder, an urban planner, give us loads of places to bike and hike, transplant an NHL arena, find a spot for a new hospital, bury a whole train line, build bridges real and imagined, be pushed around by people named Right Honourable — and do it for $9,000 a year in base salary, while herding a board of mostly strangers who can’t find Bank Street.

Chalk River neighbours worry over plans to build dump for low-level radioactive waste

Ottawa Citizen

By Tom Spears, Ottawa Citizen, April 6, 2017

Radioactive waste has been in temporary storage at Chalk River since the mid-1900s, and now there’s a detailed proposal to bury it in a huge mound similar to a city garbage dump.

The Near Surface Disposal Facility would operate from 2020 until about 2070. It would be a mound 18 metres high, covering 16 hectares and designed to last 500 years.

It would contain as much as one million cubic metres of mostly low-level radioactive waste, such as building rubble from demolition, and soil, and used protective clothing, mop heads and air filters. But about one per cent of the total could be medium-level waste.

StittsvilleCentral.ca

By StittsvilleCentral, April 4, 2017

(We haven’t heard of any bear sightings in our area yet this season, but it wouldn’t be unusual for this time of year. Here’s a public advisory release by the Ontario Provincial Police.)The Ontario government and the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) are reminding people to take extra care not to attract bears to their neighbourhood.

In some parts of the province, this year’s mild winter means black bears are coming out of hibernation early. Taking simple precautions can help prevent black bears from visiting your community.

Lower speed limit signs won't work - city staff

By CFRA News, April 5, 2017

Councillors on the city's Transportation Committee have approved a new policy that will allow more streets in Ottawa to have 30 kilometer-an-hour speed limits.

But it will have to go beyond just posting new speed limit signs.

Phil Landry, the city's director of Traffic Services, maintained that simply lowering the speed limits without looking at the physical configuration of the road will have minimal impact on driver behaviour.

Pest control company charged over 2015 incident at Charles H. Hulse Public Schoo

By Glen Harrop, Ottawa Sun, April 5, 2017

Two years after 30 students and staff at Charles H. Hulse Public School became ill after contact with pesticides, the company that did the spraying has been charged.

The company, Rentokil, sprayed the school on April 11, 2015 to control cockroaches. Afterward, students and staff complained of headaches, nausea and itchy eyes.

Is handing over struggling public markets a good deal for city? - Ottawa - CBC News

By Joanne Chianello, CBC News Ottawa, April 5, 2017

That Ottawa's public markets at ByWard and, to a lesser extent, Parkdale are in trouble comes as news to no one.

For years, we've been discussing how the proliferation of farmers' markets across this city, combined with the ever-expanding selection of high-brow foodie goods for sale at local grocery stores, have led to the disappearance of outdoor stalls, especially at the ByWard Market.

Risk of flooding in Ottawa Valley as heavy rain rolls through region - Ottawa - CBC News

By Giacomo Panico, CBC News Ottawa, April 5, 2017

Heavy precipitation forecast for Thursday, combined with melting snow and heavy rain from earlier in the week, is expected to cause flooding in some low-lying areas along the Rideau River south of Ottawa.

That's according to a flood watch issued Tuesday by the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority (RVCA), which monitors water levels in the Rideau watershed.

Ottawa committee approves 30 km/h speed limit on certain streets - Ottawa - CBC News

By Idil Mussa, CBC News Ottawa, April 5, 2017

Ottawa's transportation committee says narrower, less-busy local roads with little transit service should be allowed to post speed limits of 30 kilometres per hour.

The new policy, which still must be approved by full council, could be implemented on existing streets in cases where the lower limit meets "traffic management best practices" and protects vulnerable road users, said the city.

The current City of Ottawa rules do not allow for a posted speed limit lower than 40 km/h unless 85 per cent of traffic on the road travels 40 km/h or lower.

Cap-and-trade off to a good start, but the trouble still lies ahead

Ottawa Citizen

By Bryan Platt, Ottawa Citizen, April 5, 2017

So far, so good. Ontario’s first cap-and-trade auction is in the books, and it went essentially as planned. Businesses snapped up the emissions allowances on offer, the price was low but not too low, and the government now has $472 million to spend on various climate change mitigation programs.

This first year of this program will be the smoothest. In 2018, assuming negotiations go well, Ontario will link its cap-and-trade market to California’s and Quebec’s. Ontario could also see a change of government. That’s when things will get tricky.

Disturbed soft soil from tunnel work played part in sinkhole, report says

Ottawa Citizen

By Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen, April 5, 2017

A root cause report makes it clear that LRT tunnelling work in soft ground likely contributed to the massive sinkhole forming on Rideau Street last June.

Wet, sandy conditions and groundwater pressure above the top of the tunnel pushed soil down on June 8, 2016, after workers below constructed a reinforcing “pipe umbrella” support system, which had disturbed the soil, the report says. A watermain broke as the supportive soil washed away.

Park Summit invites new ideas for better green space

Metro Ottawa

By Haley Ritchie, Ottawa Metro News, April 5, 2017

What makes a great park?

Some people like quiet solitude. Pet owners want to bring their dog. Photographers appreciate a great vista. Some want massive playgrounds, and others like big trees.

Ecology Ottawa is partnering with Toronto-based charity Park People to ask Ottawa residents that eternal question and talk about the answers at the first ever Ottawa Park Summit.

“We thought one way to begin the collaboration is to bring people together from across the city who care about our parks and have a conversation about what are some of the great, exciting examples of really cool things that are going on in Ottawa’s parks,” said executive director Graham Saul.

The event will be held on Earth Day, April 22 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Makerspace North. Ecology Ottawa is asking people to register in advance but the event is open to everyone.

Ontario bans snapping turtle hunt

Metro Ottawa

By Ryan Tumilty, Ottawa Metro News, April 3, 2017

Snapping turtles have one less reason to fear you after the provincial government moved to end hunt for the slow-moving reptiles.The government announced Monday that killing or trapping the animals will now be illegal.

Minister of Forestry and Natural Resources Kathryn McGarry said the government has been concerned about snapping-turtle populations for some time and decided it was time for a change.