NEWS ARCHIVESOctober 30, 2009 Thinking ‘Resource Management’ As a follow-up to the Waste-to-Energy tour I attended in Sweden, I prepared a report, which outlined a series of recommendations to improve the City’s waste-handling practices. The report was presented and debated at Council on October 28. The Waste-to-Energy tour, conducted by the Swedish Trade Council and the Embassy of Sweden, in co-operation with the Canadian Urban Institute, highlighted the myriad of responses to operational and educational waste-handling methods used within Sweden and Europe. The solutions for waste-handling in Sweden are far ahead of what we practice in North America with waste diversion and reuse reducing the amount of waste that goes to landfill to less than 10% of the total waste stream. The holistic theme echoed throughout the tour crystallized the importance of viewing waste at a micro and macro level in order to effectively combat the environmental degradation experienced by the continued use of unsustainable waste practices. In Sweden, they are utilizing various technology solutions to extract every watt of power, every BTU of heat through central heating plants and every litre of biofuel from the waste that is not recycled into other products. For far too long, the City of Ottawa has approached municipal services as independent entities; in Sweden, under the framework of the 'SymbioCity,' the approach is to find links between municipal services and invest in them to maximize results. The by-product is an integrated approach that can be adapted to different developable areas, be it urban or suburban, yielding substantial environmental and financial rewards. The four recommendations, which were overwhelming approved by Council, are as follows: The City of Ottawa, in conjunction with the City of Gatineau and with the cooperation of the Swedish Trade Council, establish a Task Force to investigate the waste handling practice of incineration and its suitability in the National Capital Region and the surrounding Eastern Ontario municipalities; The Task Force work cooperatively with the Ministry of the Environment to ensure the investigation of incineration is included as an alternative to the undertaking where a review of the undertaking is contemplated or required under the Environmental Assessment Act or outlined in the Environmental Assessment Requirements for Waste Management Projects; The Planning and Growth Management staff work jointly with the developers of the Fernbank lands to explore state of the art technologies and principles relating to waste; The Environmental Services include in 2010 budget an allotment for staff training and research to support recommendations made by Councillor Qadri. It is my fervent hope that as a City, we can come together to start putting the concepts that I saw in Sweden into practice in Ottawa. I am hopeful that by working in the new communities that we are developing, we can exert sufficient pressure on the developers and the residents that new and environmentally sustainable methods for the handling of all waste streams are tried and proven, with the eventual goal of expanding the processes to other areas of the City. I believe that we can also exert pressure on the public and private waste handlers to look at alternatives to landfills, including clean incineration technologies, gas plasification and recycling. A recent Ministry of Environment report indicates that
there will be pressure and extended product liability costs to reduce the amount
of waste produced by making manufacturers responsible for the disposal of their
packaging. Council pushing for speed reduction Council has voted 18-3 to ask the Province for the ability to re-structure the default speeds on residential streets in order to lower the speed from 50km/h to 40km/h provided 66 per cent of a street is in agreement with the change. Councillors Monette, Hunter and myself were the only Councillors to vote against the proposal. I recently asked for feedback on the proposed change and I received close to 400 responses, of which 81 per cent were against the reduction, and more than 90 per cent were in favour of increased enforcement and education. I also spoke with Traffic staff and they did not support
the move. A reduction in the default speed would be too difficult to implement,
given it would not be a blanket change but subject to individual street
requests, which would cause for mass confusion and in all likelihood, have no
impact on whether motorists obey the limits or not. The onus needs to be placed
on enforcing current practices and educating motorists on road safety. Hydro Ottawa hosting two Open House sessions Hydro Ottawa has assessed the electrical supply needs in the west end of the City and, due to a significant load growth, have determined that there is a need to construct a new Municipal Transformer Station. The proposed station will receive electrical energy from an existing 230 kilovolt transmission line in the Hydro One Networks Inc. transmission corridor, and convert this energy to lower voltages so that it can be distributed through Hydro Ottawa’s electrical systems. The new station is required by 2011 and will improve the reliability of supply to the area. The project is subject to provincial Environmental Assessment Act approval, in accordance with the Class Environmental Assessment for Minor Transmission Facilities. The project study area is defined by Fernbank Road to the south, Terry Fox Drive to the west, Hazeldean Road to the north and Eagleson Road to the east. Hydro Ottawa will identify and evaluate a number of potential sites within this area in order to determine the preferred location for the proposed transformer station. Hydro Ottawa will hold a public information session to
provide details on the study and the assessment of the proposed sites. The Open
House is scheduled for November 16 from 1-3pm and 7-9pm at the Holiday Inn,
Salon C located at 101 Kanata Avenue. City exceeds target for reduction in greenhouse gas
emissions, The City has revised its corporate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction target to 30 per cent below 1990 levels by 2012.The decision to set the bar higher comes after Staff reported that the City had surpassed its initial emissions reduction target. In the City’s 2005 Air Quality and Climate Change Management Plan, corporate GHG emission reduction targets were set at 20 per cent below 1990 levels by 2007. However, the City has already succeeded in cutting its emissions by 24 per cent. Initiatives that led to the reduction in emissions included using an alternative fuel mix of gasoline of 10 per cent ethanol for City vehicles, implementing energy efficiency measures in City buildings and facilities, and generating electricity using waste from the City’s Robert O. Pickard Environmental Centre wastewater treatment plant. The City’s new GHG emission reduction target will be
achieved through the implementation of two major programs. The Energy Reduction
Program, which aims to reduce energy use in City buildings, will result in an
estimated 6,000 to 7,000 tonne reduction in emissions by 2012. The Green
Municipal Fleet Plan, which was a motion moved by Councillor Bloess and myself,
introduces hybrid vehicles and other pollution reducing technologies into the
City’s municipal fleet, which will reduce GHG emissions by 3,000 tonnes. Remembrance Day schedule changes I want to remind residents of the following schedule changes for Remembrance Day. Ottawa City Hall and all six Client Service Centres will be closed on Remembrance Day. Business will resume as usual on November 12. The City’s 311 Contact Centre will be open for urgent matters requiring the City’s immediate attention. Call 311 or 613-580-2400 to speak to a customer service representative. Recycling, garbage, and multi-residential container collection will take place on its regularly scheduled day on Remembrance Day with no changes to the collection schedule. OC Transpo will operate a revised weekday schedule with minor reductions on November 11. Service is free on November 11 for veterans wearing their uniform or medals. For more information, holiday schedules and travel planning, phone 613-741-4390 or visit www.octranspo.com. All pools, arenas and fitness centres will be open on Remembrance Day for public swimming, skating and fitness classes and following regular schedules. Most registered programs at swimming pools, community centres and arenas will be offered on Remembrance Day. Please check with www.ottawa.ca or the facility of your choice for details. All branches of the Ottawa Public Library are closed on
Remembrance Day and there will be no bookmobile service. Regular branch hours
and bookmobile service will resume on November 12. Always listening and acting on your concerns As your Councillor, I always welcome your keen input and ideas on how we can sustain and improve Stittsville. Please contact our office anytime by phone at 613-580-2476 or by e-mail at Shad.Qadri@ottawa.ca. My ward office is located in the Goulbourn Recreation Complex, located at 1500 Shea Road. The hours of operation are Mondays 9-2pm, Wednesdays 3-8pm, Fridays 9-4pm, and Saturday 9-1pm. Please do not hesitate to pay us a visit. I welcome your call or e-mail to arrange an appointment. If you are not part of my electronic outreach list and would like to be added, please contact my office to ensure you receive pertinent information concerning our community. [ close window ] |