Is it too late?
Campaign to reconsider CIP gains momentum

Sound and images by Philippe Morin

HAWKESBURY — A panel of engineers, lawyers and environmetnal activists made an impassioned plea to Hawkesbury’s council and Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources on March 25, urging them to reconsider their plan for the CIP lagoon.

Here is what some of them had to say:

René Berthiaume who is president of the Corporation de la Bordure Riveraine - a citizens group committed to reversing current plans to just do a partial remediation of the CIP lagoons situated on the bank of the Ottawa River in Hawkesbury.

 

Environmental-issues lawyer David Donnelly said the citizens group (Corporation de la Bordure Riveraine) would consider launching a lawsuit against the Ontario government if Option 2 (the partial remediation) goes ahead.

Jeffrey A. White of Northern Watertek — a company that claims it could provide a full restoration of the government-owned lagoon for $25 million, an estimate equal to the partial restoration approved by Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources — said the company has performed waterfront restorations in the Northwest Territories, Quebec, British Columbia and Alberta, as well as New Zealand, Korea, Japan and other parts of the world. “We are a technology firm, we don’t possess a shovel or a bulldozer, we leave that to local contractors and local engineers. We do possess the award-winning technology that would apply here,” he said.

Delphine Astley of the Ottawa Riverkeeper group also issued a call for reconsideration. Astley read a statement prepared by the group’s executive director Meredith Brown.

"It has been already about 30 years since the site was abandoned and it is criminal that the taxpayers now have to pay the price for this legacy of mismanagement and pollution,” read the statement.

"If we are offered a partial clean-up or a full clean-up for the same price, which would we choose? Seems like an easy question,” she said.

Listen to Delphine Astley's presentation on behalf of Ottawa Riverkeeper Executive Director Meredith Brown:

Janusz Szpaczynski a chemical engineer, mechanical engineer and biologist employed by Northern Watertek says that burying the sludge would not help. Northern Watertek’s plan would involve plants and natural systems; the pollution would be removed and plants with deep root systems would be installed in the lagoon. The plan would also increase the flow of water to the region and restore surrounding islands to their state in 1965. He said this plan would allow fishing and swimming in the area within in two years.