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Dock owners say former dumps are leaching heavy metals, oil into Ottawa River above intake.
Roger Brunelle, above, says pollutants from old dumps are fouling the Ottawa River. David Coulombe, a spokesman for the City of Gatineau, says the red substance in the water is iron that poses no threat to humans, fish or animals.
Federal and Quebec environment officials are investigating reports that a former Gatineau landfill site is leaching heavy metals, oil and other contaminants into the Ottawa River—upstream from the city’s water filtration plant.
Gatineau dock owners facing eviction from the waterfront La Baie Park say the city is responsible for the mixture of contaminants entering the river, not the boaters. The boat owners have been ordered to remove their docks so the city can build a boardwalk along the river and install underground power lines.
The park included a garbage dump and a landfill site for old cars, tires and construction material until about 25 years ago. “This dump is a threat to Gatineau’s drinking water,” said Roger Brunelle, who has a dock near the former landfill site. “During the 1980s, the province said the city had to cover the dump site properly and control what enters the river. But I went to the park yesterday and you can actually see the debris sitting there because it was never covered.
“There were old power transformers, pesticides and other things dumped in there. It is full of heavy metals, old cars and discarded construction material.”
The park is downriver from where Ottawa obtains its water.
Mr. Brunelle said the work the city plans at the site is intended to hide the dump and the pipes that direct storm water from the site into the river. He said the city should install a membrane around the park to prevent contaminants from leaking into the river, and any surface water should be directed toward an evaporation pond.
Two reports obtained by the Citizen show the former landfill contains arsenic, cadmium, chrome, copper, lead and zinc.
A 1998 Quebec Ministry of Environment report shows the 88-hectare site was a sanitary landfill and a car dump before the 1950s. Several chimneys in the park released methane from the dump into the atmosphere.
A 1991 Fondex Ltd. report said the use of the site for recreation activities is a problem because the Ministry of Environment would not tolerate such uses where the soil is contaminated by copper, lead and zinc. Other materials reported in the dump include tires, asphalt and contaminated soil from Ottawa’s transitway.
David Coulombe, a spokesman for the City of Gatineau, said the red substance in the water near the park is iron that poses no threat to humans, fish or animals. Mr. Coulombe said the city will work with the Ministry of Environment to keep contaminants in the dump from entering the river.
Ministry spokesman Serge Provencher said provincial officials will inspect the site today to determine whether the dump is contaminating the Ottawa River. Environment Canada spokesman Sebastien Bois said federal inspectors will examine the park later this week to determine whether the city is violating the Fisheries Act by allowing toxic substances to enter fish habitat.
Nicole Desroches, executive director of the Outaouais Council on the Environment and Sustainable Development, said nothing has been done about the landfill sites because the cleanup would cost at least $9 million.
“Another problem is that the Balloon Festival could not find another site while work was done on the dumps,” Ms. Desroches said.
“It is speculation to say that material from the dump is entering Gatineau’s drinking water until we have better studies. But why would Ottawa send us contaminated soil, and why would Gatineau accept it, when it could affect everyone’s drinking water?”
The boat owners are refusing to leave the waterfront at La Baie Park because they say the shore of Gatineau Point, as the area was once known, has belonged to them since at least 1907.
Yvon Ferland, one of the owners fighting the eviction, said records show that Philemon Wright, the founder of Wrightville—which later became Hull—gave 353 hectares of land to the first settlers of Gatineau Point in 1809 on condition that they build houses and establish a town.
Mr. Ferland said the owners are willing to improve the appearance of the docks to co-exist with the boardwalk and other shoreline improvements. He noted the improvement work is not scheduled to start for 10 years.
When construction of the boardwalk starts along the shore of the Ottawa River east of the point where the Gatineau River flows into the Ottawa River, the city will move Jacques Cartier Street to the north and excavate material from the dump.
Ms. Desroches said the city will have to conduct a public consultation and environmental study when it moves the street.