Carlsbad Spring residents concerned about planned landfill

Some residents in the Ottawa community of Carlsbad Springs are banding together to oppose a planned landfill near their neighbourhood.

The Taggart-Miller Group is proposing a 400-acre dump and recycling centre about two kilometres outside Carlsbad Springs, at the corner of Boundary Road and Highway 417.

That potential location is a few kilometres away from a planned dump in Russell, which theTaggart-Miller Grouplater backed away fromdue topublic pressure.

A new anti-landfill group calling themselves "Dump This Dump 2" says the $100-million project would affect the area's water.

"We are now creating and exposing another environmental danger in an area which is essentially rural, with farmers on well water," said Sue Langlois, the head ofthe group.

"There's going to be significant impactthis is a major landfill the same size as the Carp facility."

Provincial, city approval still needed

Taggart-Miller said they expect provincial approval for their project, which would handle about 400,000 tonnes of waste per year.

"We looked at agriculture, design of the site biology, surface water . . . It has very good geological conditions and it's already zoned industrial in character," said Hubert Bourque, who's in charge of the planned development.

Langlois said the planned landfill would just be about creating profit.

"Sixty dollars a tonne (of waste), you're looking at $20 million per year," she said.

The province's environmental assessment of the proposed facility will start later this year, but Ottawa city council would ultimately have to approve any rezoning of the land.

Another factor that could come into play is the National Capital Commission's plan to expand the Greenbelt into east-end areas, including Carlsbad Springs.

That idea was also met with opposition from residents during public consultations earlier this week.

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