Because fish habitat is involved in the proposed Leitrim developments, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) has been the lead agency to assess the environmental impacts. They chose to initiate a Screening Report, merely a preliminary action as opposed to a full environmental assessment.
The Friends of Leitrim Wetland and other experts have analysed the screening report and identified the following deficiencies:
– the original scope of the report is too narrow; it only addresses the effects of the stormwater remediation plan and fails to address the effects of the actual housing development;
– the report fails to specifically address public concerns and uncertainty or provide any evidence-based assurances regarding the potential health risks to future residents of the developments of the nearby Gloucester Landfill Site and the Federal Special Waste Compound, and in particular, the report ignores recent finding which shows extremely high levels of 1,4 dioxane;
– the report does not analyse the situation, does not review the environmental risks, fails to clearly designate responsibility and includes no cost estimates for monitoring and mitigation measures;
– the report does not address the fact that baseline studies have not been done to allow for proper future assessment of the performance of the proposed stormwater management system and the significance of its impacts;
– the report fails to address the considerable uncertainty about the effectiveness of the proposed stormwater remediation techniques on the continued integrity of the wetlands;
– there is no consideration of the potential loss of biodiversity;
– the cumulative impacts have not been adequately addressed;
– the expert advice provided to DFO by the Friends of Leitrim Wetlands, and by federal departments have been ignored or marginalized in the report; and
– there are no conditions laid down for on-going monitoring and any required remediation activities.