Is The Sprung Structure Site Contaminated?

One of the most important concerns about the Nepean sprung structure site involves the soil on which this controversial building will be located.

Is the Nepean sprung structure site contaminated?

Here at The Bulldog we’ve been repeatedly hearing speculation that the site is contaminated. Somewhere the stories go, in the Byzantine morass that is the federal-government records, there is a long-buried report that says the site is contaminated. The problem is, no one has been able to provide categorical proof that the claim is true.

The array of people who have heard this speculation is interesting. Nepean MPP Lisa MacLeod pointed to a post of an internet “influencer” on X who claims to have proof; Bulldog contributor Mike Patton has heard of the possible contamination; and an unofficial report landed on your agent’s desk alleging the claim.

But no positive proof that the site is contaminated. So The Bulldog has held off publishing this.

Until now. Finally we have something we can hang this speculation on.

Knoxdale-Merivale Councillor Sean Devine has submitted an inquiry to staff on Jan. 22 asking if the site is contaminated.

Part of the inquiry says:

The proposed site for the reception centre at 1645 Woodroffe has been identified as being in proximity to soils contaminated with hydrocarbons. While program staff have been responding to questions pertaining to these environmental concerns, there still remains concern among the public about safety concerns.
a) Can staff provide clear evidence and reassurance that the site is safe for use as a Newcomer Reception Centre, and that it’s potential use does not pose a health risk to those who would be working and living in the centre, as well as those who use and live in proximity to the Nepean Sportsplex?

b. What specific assessments or analysis have already taken place since the site was selected for the Newcomer Reception Centre, and what additional assessments will take place as part of any upcoming site plan applications?

c. Aside from the response to this inquiry, what actions will the city take to make public all information pertaining to site safety?

A well-crafted inquiry whose competence flies in the face of planning committee chairman Jeff Leiper’s request of council this week that it give blanket approval of refugee centres anywhere in the city. This shows that Leiper learned nothing from the thoroughly botched process of the Nepean sprung structure which flew in the face of basic tenets of democracy. Instead, Leiper wants to do it again and again thus denying the public any meaningful input into the process and alienating the citizenry. That’s a dangerous and autocratic precedent, particularly by a municipal government that is supposed to be closer to the people than its senior counterparts. It also shows that Leiper should not be allowed anywhere near the levers of power. He’s just wrong.

This followed Leiper’s recent derisive comment of the suburbs calling them “the bungalow belt” and that change would be forced on them rather than following process (otherwise known as democracy every day rather than once every four years). And then there was the rammed-through purchase of e-buses that came with gas generators to create electricity that would power a city the size of Brockville. Not climate friendly and woefully ignorant of the capacity of Hydro Ottawa and the electrical grid in general.

Yesterday, The Bulldog likened the planning process to professional wrestling with practices thrown out of the window in the pursuit of entertainment. We might have underestimated the ethical and competence bankruptcy of Ottawa’s planning process.

The sprung structure process illustrates the crisis in planning in the community. It is not open, caring and inclusive. It is closed, uncaring and exclusive.

And incompetent. And misleading.

How bad is it? Devine must submit an inquiry to staff to discover what any homeowner and lawyer knows must be done with the purchase of a property. Find out if the land is polluted.

That’s what a closed process brings you. Questions about a polluted site and, on the issue of e-buses, incompetent planning and execution.

City hall has never learned the following, nor is it likely to recognize this upon reading it: two heads are better than one; a group of people produces better policy than an autocratic and dictating government; and an entire city creates absolutely bullet-proof legislation.

Staff and council … get the residents involved in major policy decisions at city hall. We have a smart city. Plumb its knowledge.

And listen. If staff and council do listen, they’ll save themselves endless derision and consternation.

Ken Gray

The Devine inquiry is courtesy of the city-wide community group Your Applewood Acres (And Beyond) Neighbours.

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