Ottawa Board of Health – Motion Passed Re Contamination on Golf Course Lands
In the last newsletter, I let you know that Councillor Gower was contemplating bringing a motion to the Ottawa Public Health Board meeting regarding the assessment of the health risks given the documented contamination on the golf course lands. Our Medical Officer of Health had made comments on the contamination levels and referred the issue to the Ministry of Environment Conservation and Parks. They referred it back to Ottawa Public Health. After that, WSP wrote a report indicating that previous testing for contaminants was not acceptable or done properly to accurately assess the level of contamination. So, the Medical Officer of Health had made comments and a referral based on poor and incomplete data. The motion Councillor Gower moved addressed this. You can read the final motion here. You can watch the presentation I made to the Ottawa Public Health Board and the debate on the topic at Ottawa Board of Health Meeting. The motion passed unanimously. I will keep you up to date as the Medical Officer of Health reassesses the situation.
Advocacy with MP Sudds
MP Jenna Sudds has spent the last few weeks advocating for residents who live in Kanata Lakes and Beaverbrook regarding the documented contamination on the golf course lands. MP Sudds arranged meetings with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Canada to review the possible risks of the contamination on the golf course lands (mercury, cadmium, arsenic, and methyl mercury) getting into our local waterways, through the federally-owned NCC lands and into the Ottawa River. Both ministries’ staff have reviewed the reports and data. MP Sudds and I also shared with them the experts’ opinions and many of the photos and videos residents have sent in. They are currently reviewing all of the information we presented. We will keep you posted on what we hear back. MP Sudds also gave us this Report pollution incidents or wildlife crimes link with information on reporting issues.
NCC Meeting
This week, MP Sudds arranged for me to meet with the Head of the NCC, Tobi Nussbaum. MP Sudds had already sent him the information regarding the risk of the contamination from the golf course lands getting into the waterways given the disruption of drainage patterns we have witnessed on the golf course lands over the course of the last three months. He, too, committed to reviewing all of the information and getting back to us. I will keep you posted on what we hear back.