Federal Contaminated Sites Inventory does not include 1 and 19 Sir John A. MacDonald Parkway

Petition: 488

Issue(s): Environmental assessment; Governance; Human/environmental health; Science and technology; Toxic substances

Petitioner(s): A Canadian organization

Petitioner location(s): Ottawa, Ontario

Date received: 9 June 2023

Status: Completed - Response(s) to petition received

Summary: The petition raises concerns about 1 and 19 Sir John A. MacDonald Parkway not being listed in the Federal Contaminated Sites Inventory. The petition indicates that the inventory includes annually updated information on all known and suspected contaminated sites under the custodianship of federal departments, agencies, and consolidated Crown corporations.

The petition seeks to understand why the Federal Contaminated Sites Inventory map does not contain the 1 and 19 Sir John A. MacDonald Parkway site, located in Mechanicsville (in Ottawa), Ontario, because according to the petition, this site has contaminated soil. According to the petition, this site should qualify as a contaminated site because it meets the definition of a contaminated site used in the Treasury Board’s Policy on the Planning and Management of Investments.

The petition refers to a site in the inventory named “Site 00023987 – Burnside Site,” which is located in Westboro (in Ottawa), Ontario, and it questions whether this is an omission or a mislabelling error, as there is no Burnside Street located in Westboro. The petition indicates that while the possibility of a mislabelling was brought to the National Capital Commission’s attention, no change has been made to the inventory listing. The petition questions whether the entry for the Burnside site will be corrected to show that it is located in Mechanicsville at the location of 1 and 19 Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway. The petition suggests that if there is an error with the labelling of the sites, the environmental assessments associated with site 00023987 may be incorrect with regard to the contaminants, population affected, and plan for remediation. The petition also questions when the information will be updated. Furthermore, because the commission has active plans to sell or lease the land at 1 and 19 Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway, the different stakeholders are entitled to have correct information in the site’s inventory.

According to the petition, the environmental assessment related to the Burnside site shows the presence of metal, metalloid, and organometallic contaminants in the soil. The petition requests a copy of the assessment should it be determined that the Burnside site is in Mechanicsville. Furthermore, the petition questions who is responsible for maintaining the studies of environmental contamination at the commission.

Federal departments/organizations responsible for reply: National Capital Commission; Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat