Province asked to relieve flooding problems gŏđŏ editionap.ca
future demands.
improve safety for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers, the municipality says. If the grant is approved, the northern section of Cartier Boulevard would be re- surfaced in 2013 and sewage, resurfacing, sidewalk and roundabout work would be carried out in 2014.
not handle the current volume. The town has been aware of the flooding conditions on Cartier Boulevard for years. However, because of the high cost involved, the town delayed the large capital expendi- ture required in favour of short-term correc- tive measures. Storm water flows towards the river, “pushing the potential for the problem to other sectors of the sewage systems or directly to the Ottawa River.” The town ob- serves: “Alternative solutions to date have not fixed the issue, but rather diverted the matter.” The $2 million would represent about 20 per cent of the overall cost of improve- ments earmarked for Cartier and Cécile Boulevards. The work consists of separating sanitary and storm sewers to meet Ontario Ministry of the Environment regulations, increasing capacity for expected localized growth and reconstructing streets to meet current and
RICHARD MAHONEY RICHARD.MAHONEY@EAP.ON.CA
“Unconventional” The municipality also hopes to redesign the “unconventional” roundabout at Cécile and Cartier Boulevards so the circular in- tersection complies with Ministry of Trans- portation standards. A new layout would
HAWKESBURY | The risk of flooding for 33 homes in Hawkesbury will “remain real” if the Ontario government does not help finance sewage improvements on Cartier Boulevard. That warning comes from the municipality as it makes a pitch for a $2 million grant that would finance the second phase of work that was started in 2012 as part of a four- stage service overhaul. “Separating sanitary and storm sewers is a legal requirement,” says the town in its ap- plication. “It will eliminate the health prob- lem associated with potential overflow for as many as 33 residences in the area when- ever heavy torrential rainfalls occur. It will also avoid surface storm waters to drain un- treated to the Ottawa River, which is both an environmental and public health issue.” Built in 1963 with an expected life of 60 years, the combined sewers on Cartier can-
Town seeks more Amoco clean-up money RICHARD MAHONEY RICHARD.MAHONEY@EAP.ON.CA
In its request for help from the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, the mu- nicipality suggests a cost-sharing deal, “perhaps as a pilot project with win-win conditions for the MOE, our common tax- payers, the environment and the town.” The completion of the clean-up of the Cameron Street property could cost more than $4 million and take as long as 19 years to complete, according to the finan- cial report of the Hawkesbury Community Industrial Strategic Planning Association. The association administers the proper- ty, which the municipality received from BP Amoco in 2001. The Amoco carpet backing plant oper- ated for about 40 years before its closure in 1998. Since 1993, a control and moni- toring system has been in place to deal with solvents that contaminated soil and ground water. In 2009, the federal government pro- vided $2 million towards the $2.2 million cost of removing materials that had been buried on the property. But the bill for the control and monitor- ing system is paid by the municipality. “It has become unsustainable at about $250,000 per year,” the town writes in its application for funds. In 2011, the association recorded a deficit of $349,450 on expenditures of $1,310,000 and revenues of $960,630. The largest expenses were remedial work, $446,905, and environmental consultants, $234,565. “Natural attenuation” “The status of the VOC (volatile or- ganic compounds) contaminants in the groundwater, as per the 2011indepen- dent site report, is that concentrations are declining to below their maximum al- lowable level in all 55 wells except one, (a suspected anomaly). This status is largely due in part to several interventions since 2001, including extraction and soil treat- ments conducted as part of the MOE 2009 approved cessation plan for the site,” the application reads. “The cessation plan needs to be contin- ued to permit natural attenuation to do its work without human intervention. The 2012 report is expected to be revealing and confirmatory of the decreasing and stabilized concentrations. For 2013, the MOE should permit the next step of the cessation plan to proceed, which is a tem- porary shutdown of the control system. If results remain positive from the moni- tored wells, then a risk assessment for natural attenuation could be completed in 2014. If all clear, then shutdown would be permanent as of 2015.”
HAWKESBURY | The town of Hawkes- bury is banking on the Ontario govern- ment to finance and accelerate the on- going clean-up of contamination on the former Amoco Fabrics and Fibers plant site.
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