Ecology Ottawa

News Clippings

Plasco site to be decommissioned by end of year

Ottawa Citizen

By Matthew Pearson, Ottawa Citizen, September 24, 2015

Plasco Energy’s waste-to-energy demonstration facility is set to be fully decommissioned by the end of this year, city clerk and solicitor Rick O’Connor advised Mayor Jim Watson and councillors Thursday.

In a memo, O’Connor said Plasco was in a Toronto commercial court to ask for a further extension of its bankruptcy stay in order to give the Ottawa company time to complete decommissioning work currently underway at the Trail Road site. The court granted an extension until Dec. 18.

Reevely: New Ottawa polls have bad news for the Anyone-But-Conservatives effort

Ottawa Citizen

By David Reevely, Ottawa Citizen, September 23, 2015

Liberal candidates are set to take back the party’s traditional seats in Ottawa but not to fulfil their dreams of dominating the capital after the Oct. 19 federal election, say new riding-level polls released Wednesday morning.

The polling is by respected research firm Environics. It’s sponsored by Leadnow, a group that explicitly wants voters to support the local candidates who are most likely to defeat Conservatives. Among other things, Leadnow opposes new oil pipelines and the Conservative government’s national-security legislation, Bill C-51. Here in the capital, Ecology Ottawa co-sponsored the polls.

“Over the past 10 years, all of the opposition parties have consistently put forward better environmental platforms and positions than the current government,” said its executive director, Graham Saul. Any of the opposition parties would be better than the Conservatives, in his group’s view.

Glebe residents slam 'visually polluting' redevelopment plan

By Jon Willing, Ottawa Sun, September 22, 2015

Road hockey would disappear, street parties would be cancelled and no one would want to take pictures along the Rideau Canal if an 18-unit redevelopment goes through, some Glebe residents say.

One woman went so far Tuesday as to bemoan her view that new residents are not becoming part of the community, as other established Glebeites have.

New wildlife rules for construction approved at Ottawa planning committee - Ottawa - CBC News

By CBC News Ottawa, September 22, 2015

The City of Ottawa planning committee approved new rules on Tuesday governing the relationship between construction companies and wildlife in the city.

The proposal, introduced this past winter, would limit heavy construction in habitats such as wetlands and forests during "sensitive times" such as when foxes are denning or when baby birds are being cared for.

Committee approves ‘visionary’ plan for former Rockcliffe airbase

Ottawa Citizen

By Joanne Laucius, Ottawa Citizen, September 22, 2015

The city’s planning and development committee has approved the community development plan for the former CFB Rockcliffe.

Now the real work begins, says Rideau-Rockcliffe Coun. Tobi Nussbaum. The new development, which encompasses 131 hectares, will eventually be home to 10,000 people. It won’t be finished for another 20 years.

”This is a visionary document and a visionary opportunity. The challenge is implementation,” Nussbaum said after a meeting that saw little debate on the plan, which includes a mix of sustainable housing types, retail space, 10 parks, three elementary schools and a cutting-edge “bioswale” system engineered to remove runoff.

Coalition for Landfill Accountability being formed

By John Curry, Ottawa Community News, September 19, 2015

A new organization to increase awareness of the new Waste Management landfill on Carp Road and to ensure accountability from both Waste Management and government regulatory agencies related to its operation is being formed.

Called the Coalition for Landfill Accountability, this new organization is seeking support from community associations in Stittsville, Kanata and West Carleton as well as from individual residents in the wider community to try to renew interest in the landfill project in terms of ensuring that commitments made in the landfill’s Environmental Assessment process are carried out by Waste Management. The new organization also wants to get people in the area more aware of what is happening with regards to this new landfill.

Operation Come Home cycles meals to seniors in new Foodworks program - Ottawa - CBC News

By CBC News Ottawa, September 22, 2015

Operation Come Home has started a new program where young people are preparing meals for seniors and delivering them to their door by electric bike.

"We're here to make delicious, fresh, seasonal meals that are very healthy," said Reem Buhaisi,

Raaymakers: OC Transpo should freeze fares to compensate for disruptions

Ottawa Citizen

By Peter Raaymakers, Ottawa Citizen, September 21, 2015

The last few weeks have not been kind to OC Transpo.In the first week of September, it came out that the utility was on track to post a deficit of more than $11-million by year-end, due in part to lower-than-expected fare revenue.

OC Transpo had anticipated a ridership increase in the first half of 2015, but growth didn’t match their projections.Days later, when OC Transpo’s full fall service schedule was launched, massive service disruptions caused riders delays of an hour or more.

The disruption was due to the relocation of Hurdman Station — a necessary move to make room for construction of the Confederation Line light-rail system.Although stopgap procedures h

Video & Photos: National Tree Day connects students with nature

Ottawa Citizen

By Ottawa Citizen, September 21, 2015

More than 100 elementary school students were at Vincent Massey Park on Monday, September 21, 2015 to plant their official tree for National Tree Day. Richard Walker of Tree Canada, along with volunteers from IKEA helped educate and enlighten students on the many benefits of trees.

New hospital would be built on site of ‘irreplaceable’ soil experiment, say scientist

Ottawa Citizen

By Elizabeth Payne, Ottawa Citizen, September 21, 2015

“Irreplaceable” experiments that contributed to the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 would be lost with the construction of The Ottawa Hospital’s new Civic Campus on part of the Central Experimental Farm, raising alarm among scientists around the world.

“This would be an incredibly unfortunate time to lose such an international treasure,” wrote Pete Smith, professor of soils and global change at Scotland’s University of Aberdeen, in a letter to federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz earlier this year. “History would judge this a very short-sighted decision.”

Urban tree protection plan in the works for the City of Ottawa - Ottawa - CBC News

By Kate Porter, CBC News Ottawa, September 21, 2015

The City of Ottawa will start crafting a strategy this fall to protect urban trees and ensure a healthy canopy in the future.

"There are all kinds of stresses on our urban trees and forests," said David Chernushenko, city councillor for Capital Ward and chair of the city's environment committee.

...

"It's 100 per cent necessary and we're very excited that we're going down this route," said Velta Tomsons, who leads a campaign for the organization Ecology Ottawa that is seeking to plant one million trees in Ottawa by 2017.

"We are in a time of need."

NCC abandons 2017 target for greenhouse gas reductions

Ottawa Citizen

By Don Butler, Ottawa Citizen, September 20, 2015

The National Capital Commission has quietly abandoned a target to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent by 2017.

The 30-per-cent reduction, based on a 2011-12 baseline, first appeared as a secondary objective in the NCC’s 2009 environmental strategy, called Building a Greener Capital.