Ottawa garbage task force to sift through options

A proposed garbage task force will offer the province alternatives to tripling the size of the Carp Road dump, but would not have much power to stop the proposed expansion, says Ottawa Mayor Larry O'Brien.

Waste Management, which owns the dump, submitted a revised terms of reference document outlining plans for the dump expansion to the Ontario government on Jan. 12.

'We'll be dealing with the province, and dealing with the company and seeing what other options we can put in front of the company anything that would encourage them to perhaps take a different route.' Ottawa Mayor Larry O'Brien

O'Brien confirmed Tuesday that he will form the task force after the city budget is finalized at the end of February.

"We'll be dealing with the province, and dealing with the company and seeing what other options we can put in front of the company anything that would encourage them to perhaps take a different route."

He said the city should take a "hard look" at incineration and plasma gasification as possible alternatives to burying waste in a landfill.

Those options are also being pushed by local residents opposed to the landfill expansion.

But O'Brien said the city has jurisdiction only over residential waste, which means decisions about the majority of landfill content from commercial, industrial and institutionalsources are up to the province.

"It's something that we have limited influence over."

In addition, citizens have only until Feb. 11 to respond to the terms of reference, the first major step toward approval of the Carp dump expansion, which, the company, says would allow the facility to handle Ottawa's garbage for another 25 years.

About 100 nearby residents held an emergency meeting Monday night to discuss how they might stop the expansion, which was proposed a year ago.

The public submitted over 1,000 pages of recommendations at that time, and local residents have complained that the new proposal does not incorporate those suggestions or address their concerns about the location, and health and safety issues.