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Gatineau’s Jacques Cartier Park, one of the potential sites for a new Canada Science and Technology Museum, is contaminated with toxic materials that could be seeping into the Ottawa River and harming aquatic life, National Capital Commission documents show.
Tests show that the contaminants, including aluminum, barium, copper, lead and some polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, are in soil, groundwater and the Ottawa River in concentrations that exceed federal and provincial safety guidelines for aquatic life.
The park is the second site in the area to be found to be contaminated. Last year, another NCC report revealed that 85 per cent of the Scott Paper site in Gatineau is contaminated.
The Ottawa River shoreline has a long history of industrial use and experts say the NCC should draw up a long-term plan to clean up the area.
Some environmental experts say toxins in waterways above government guidelines are dangerous to fish and the NCC needs to take remedial or containment measures.
But citing a 2004 environmental assessment, NCC spokeswoman Laurie Peters said contamination is not serious enough to pose a danger to humans or fish. The report concluded that as long as Jacques Cartier continues to be used as a park, the risk is low.
Ms. Peters said if a museum or other national institution is located at the park, “We will need to do something about it.”
Ian Huggett of the environmental group Ecowatch acknowledges the more serious environmental problem would come from excavation for a large structure such as a museum. Buried contaminants could pollute the environment when unearthed.
“They were obviously contemplating putting the museum of science and technology there and if they want to develop it in the future, they have to clean it up,” he said.
But he said it is wrong to minimize the potential threat to fish habitat. Through a process of “bio-accumulation,” toxins in river beds or sediments can collect and spread through the food chain.
“Any degree of contamination is damaging to aquatic life. No level of contamination is considered safe for aquatic life,” Mr. Huggett said.
Rick Findlay, director of the water program at Pollution Probe, agrees. “It is not doing the aquatic life any good.”
The Ottawa River shoreline, including Jacques Cartier Park, has a long history of industrial use by lumber yards. Also, between 1930 and 1950, the park was a major fuel depot. Several environmental studies were done in the 1990s as part of NCC park development. The documents were obtained for the Citizen by researcher Ken Rubin under federal access to information laws. They show that:
Mr. Findlay said that since the NCC is finding the same compounds in the river as in the soil and groundwater, it would suggest Jacques Cartier as the likely source. He said the NCC is doing the right thing with regular monitoring, but it would be wise to undertake a more comprehensive investigation to get a better handle on the problem.
At 71 acres, Jacques Cartier is the largest urban park in the region and has a 1.8-kilometre shoreline. The 34-acre southern part of the park is the section popularly used for picnics, outdoor games, Winterlude and Canada Day events. It is this section that has been identified as a possible site for the proposed one million-square-foot Canada Museum of Science and Technology and it is also the part that’s showing signs of contamination.
Ms. Peters said there is no need to clean up the park because no danger exists. “The contamination is not inconsistent with the industrial use of the site along the river shore. There is no major contamination to be concerned with.”