City appealing decision to allow Quebec waste to be dumped at Carp facility
The City of Ottawa is seeking leave to appeal a recent decision to allow construction waste from Quebec to be dumped at a processing facility in Carp.
City solicitor Rick O'Connor notified members of city council Tuesday that the appeal has been filed with the Environmental Review Tribunal.
The tribunal approved on March 1 the transfer of construction and demolition waste from western Quebec to the Ottawa processing and recycling facility at 2301 Carp Rd., which is operated by Waste Management of Canada.
But it appears Waste Management could reconsider the decision to go ahead with the plan.
Don Wright, general counsel for Waste Management, wrote in a letter to the city on Tuesday the company is aware of concerns raised by the city's lawyers earlier this week about the environmental compliance approval, or ECA.
"I can confirm that Waste Management is taking steps to review its position on the amended ECA, and anticipates providing further information to the City as to its position and its next steps in the near future," the letter states.
Residents fear Ottawa would become 'dumping ground' for other cities
During public consultations on the plan last year, members of the public raised concerns about increased truck traffic flowing over the bridge into Ottawa. There were 12 written comments from the public opposing the plan, including one that expressed fear that Ottawa would become a "dumping ground for the waste of other municipalities."
"This will increase the already congested streets of the city [and] increase the risk of accidents with cyclists and pedestrians and increase the level of pollution in the core," wrote one member of the public.
"Note heavy truck traffic from Quebec on Ottawa downtown streets has long been a problem and very expensive solutions have been are still being proposed. As Ottawa moves to be cyclist friendly the presences [sic] of more heavy trucks in not what we want to see."
Another member of the public said more trucks traveling into Ottawa will increase air pollution. "Please respect our municipality's position to NOT accept waste from western Quebec," the person wrote.
