Pollution

Spring has finally sprung! The sun’s out, the weather is warming, and the days of blowing snow and ice are finally behind us. We can now look back after we’ve crunched the data on an especially salty year in the National Capital Region.

Environment and Climate Change Canada has announced a fine for the release of a deleterious substance into the Lièvre River, a tributary of the Ottawa River. The incident occurred in 2019, the same year as major fish kills in the Lièvre, when thousands of dead fish washed up along the shores of the Ottawa River. ECCC says it did not find a link between the discharge and the fish deaths. Will we ever know the full story?

As our 2025-2026 road salt monitoring gets underway, we take a look at how the program is evolving and how we’re pushing for better public accountability on road salt management in the National Capital Region.

As snow falls in Ottawa and Gatineau, we prepare for another season of road salt monitoring. Read about our latest evolution of the program, changes to our methodology, and what we are seeing so far!

This Earth Day, the theme of “Planet vs Plastics” took centre stage, shining a spotlight on the ubiquitous issue of plastic pollution. Against the backdrop of the INC-4 international plastics treaty negotiations in Ottawa, Ottawa Riverkeeper was deeply engaged in both local and global efforts to address this pressing environmental challenge.