Category: THREATS

The Honourable Anne McLellan, P.C., M.P. Minister of Health House of Commons Parliament Hill Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0C6 Dear Minister: RE: Canadian Environmental Assessment Act Screening by Fisheries and Oceans Canada for Findlay Creek/Leitrim wetlands and Transport Canada’s Area-Wide Risk Assessment of Gloucester landfill. We write to you because of our concern about the health aspects of leachate from a closed landfill owned by Transport Canada south of the Macdonald-Cartier

by Albert Dugal, published in the Dec. 1999-Jan. 2000 issue of PEN Leitrim Wetland, one of Ottawa-Carleton’s most outstanding natural areas, is threatened by proposed urban development. This provincially significant Class 1 wetland straddles Albion Road southeast of the Macdonald-Cartier Airport. One-fifth of Leitrim is federally owned by Transport Canada. The remainder belongs to individuals and developers. This 400-hectare wetland is home to over 200 species of regionally significant plants,

BACKGROUNDER Information from Dr. Gabriel Blouin-Demers, biologist, on Blanding’s Turtle at Leitrim Dr. Gabriel Blouin-Demers is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Ottawa. He has published over 30 scientific papers on the ecology of Canadian reptiles since 2000. Blanding’s Turtle is the only species in the genus Emydoidea. Its populations in the Great Lakes/St-Lawrence Region are Threatened according to the lists of Endangered Species

Dr. G. Clarke Topp Soil Physicist Education: B.S.A. (1959) Univ. of Guelph; M.Sc. (Physics) (1962), Ph.D. (Soil Physics) (1964) Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison Employment Experience Summary: Clarke was research scientist for 37 years with Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada, Ottawa. His primary research focus was to improve field measurement methods for soil-water properties and parameters. In the late 70s he introduced the soil community to the use of high frequency electromagnetic

BACKGROUNDER Findings of Dr. G. Clarke Topp, soil physicist Dr. Clarke Topp is one of Canada’s most eminent soil physicists, now retired from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. This Summer, Dr. Topp made measurements of soil permeability at seven locations around the perimeter of the portion of Leitrim Wetland that is supposedly ‘protected.’ His conclusions are unequivocal: * The permeability of the upper 1.5 m of soil materials in the area

November 2, 2007 Updated January 2, 2008 Updated January 26, 2008 Leitrim Wetland, an ecosystem unique in Canada, under threat by developer amid disturbing sightings of unauthorized drainage. Please write to the provincial official responsible for Permits To Take Water, and to provincial and federal Ministers, demanding that no Permits for further drainage be issued. See sample letters here. Taggart Construction, without a key permit from the Ontario government, has

Comments on “Hydrogeological Evaluation in support of a PTTW for sewer construction on Phase 2 Findlay Creek Subdivision” prepared by Golder Associates Ltd. August 2007. This report is fully dependent on a single calculation using one equation taken from a US Army, Navy and Air Force Publication (1971) to determine the zone of influence caused by pumping the water table down 4 m. Although this simple equation may be valid

Here are two sample letters to government officials. When you have sent your letters, please forward them to leitrim ( at ) greenspace-alliance.ca . Thank you! ———————————————————————————————— Sample letter to the Ontario Minister of the Environment: The Honourable John Gerretsen, Minister Ontario Ministry of the Environment Email: minister (at ) ene.gov.on.ca Copies to: Peter Taylor, Water Resources Supervisor, Ontario Ministry of the Environment Email: peter.g.taylor ( at ) ontario.ca Gary