Old Dump, New Problem
Gatineau residents will be paying heavily for the sins of their fathers as investigators probe the old Pointe-Gatineau dump.
The dump is leaking what are believed to be heavy metals, oil and other contaminated materials into the Ottawa River.
Arsenic, cadmium, chrome, copper, lead and zinc are in the 88-hectare location that was used as a landfill and car dump prior to the 1950s. The site also includes tires, asphalt and contamination from the Ottawa transitway. Gatineau officials say the dump was closed in 1982.
The Quebec environment ministry has asked Gatineau to stem the flow of leachate from the dump into the river. That order in itself tells you how serious the situation is at Pointe-Gatineau.
It is astounding that landfill designers—that’s a very exotic term for, “Let’s throw the trash there”—in the 1960s would choose the confluence of the Gatineau and Ottawa rivers for a dump. Not only can such a site be an environmental nightmare as heavy metals, carcinogens, chemicals and bacteria flow into the river, it can be even more serious when the abandoned dump is upstream from Gatineau’s water-intake pipe, as this one is.
Today’s landfills are usually located on clay, with a plastic liner, away from bodies of water. The Gatineau site is no doubt situated on porous alluvium that will allow leachate—rain and melted snow filtered through garbage—to spread.
The order from the Quebec environment ministry to stop leachate from leaking into the river sounds as though contamination is entering the river—a worry on both sides of the provincial border. Fixing this isn’t going to be easy, however. Gatineau is concerned that if the leachate is stemmed from the river, it could back up into nearby homes.
Already estimates of as much as $9 million for the cleanup are being thrown. Those predictions are tricky. A small oil spill at a Nepean school in 1997 cost a hefty $270,000 to clean up. Estimates of contamination removal at LeBreton Flats have been as high as $90 million.
All this serves as a warning that modern landfill methods—such things as plastic liners under trash and adequate ways to deal with leachate—are essential.
Recycling is critical. Maybe there is hope for plasma gasification that changes garbage into usable fuel. Methane at landfills can be burned to generate electricity.
Gatineau is learning an expensive lesson about treating its garbage responsibly.