One week after record-breaking rainfall flooded thousands of basements across Ottawa, residents in Crystal Beach say rotting garbage, spoiled food and sewage-contaminated debris are still sitting outside their homes. Piles of furniture, children’s toys, drywall and garbage bags line curbs in the west-end neighbourhood, where residents say the smell is getting worse in the heat and communication from the city has been unclear. “We have to ask, where are you? Come out,” said resident Tracy Annand-Robichaud. “That is the disappointment for us as taxpayers.” Some residents say the debris has become more than a collection issue. “It’s also becoming a biohazard in the heat,” said resident Gail Christopher. “A lot of rotting food, articles that are covered with sewage, it needs to be removed.” Scavengers taking contaminated trash Residents also say people have been coming through the neighbourhood and taking items from the curb, including children’s toys and furniture. They worry some flood-damaged belongings could be reused or resold, despite possible contamination. “It’s not a good idea to take items, even if they look like they might be okay if they’re being discarded. They’re being discarded for a reason and that’s because people know they’re not going to be salvageable,” said Dr. Trevor Arnason, medical officer of health. “Objects might appear like they’re not badly damaged. The challenge with floodwaters is that sometimes it can be contaminated with sewage. So, stuff from some of the sewage pipes that could be in the water, that could contain bacteria, viruses that can make people sick, could also contain chemicals that may have been mixed in if there was something in someone’s basement or somewhere that got into the floodwaters.” Bay Ward Coun. Theresa Kavanagh says the city sending out extra trucks, but it does not have enough resources to quickly clear the sheer volume of debris. “The truck comes and they pick up maybe two households and they have to leave,” Kavanagh said. “But we were worried about green bin content and they’re trying to get that done as well, so I know it’s frustrating.” City dealing with high volume of garbage In a statement, manager of waste processing and disposal Jason Staniforth says, “Due to the significant impacts experienced by residents in Wards 7, 8 and 9 following last week’s extreme weather event, the city has deployed additional collection resources to support cleanup efforts. Residents in these wards do not need to submit a service request to have their storm-related debris collected. Special collection in Crystal Beach began [Tuesday] and is expected to continue through [Wednesday].” Residents with storm-related debris who live outside of wards 7, 8 and 9 are asked to submit a service request to help the city identify where special collection is required and prioritize resources accordingly. Residents who have already created a service request do not need to submit another. “Residents across the city may place spoiled foods in their green bin for collection through the regular curbside program. As a temporary measure and in support of storm response waste collection, residents who have more food waste material than will fit in their green bin may place additional items in a garbage bag clearly marked ‘green bin’. These materials will be collected with their regularly scheduled green bin collection. Food waste should be placed out at the curb by 7 a.m. on the regular scheduled collection day,” Staniforth added. “Collection crews are working through a high volume of material and additional resources have been deployed to support clean-up efforts in the most heavily impacted areas. Residents are encouraged to leave eligible material at the curb as crews may require several days to work through affected neighbourhoods and complete collection activities. The City continues to monitor collection demands and resources will be adjusted as needed to support storm recovery activities as quickly as possible.” Meanwhile, Ottawa West-Nepean NDP MPP Chandra Pasma is calling on the province to step in and provide more help. “The premier is making vague commitments of support, but there’s been literally no actual tangible support offered to the City of Ottawa,” Pasma said. “We need people here to help with garbage cleanup, to help with emptying houses. It’s very clear after a week the city can’t manage it on its own.” According to the mayor, the city and province are working together to ensure affected residents will be able to apply for provincial compensation with the Ontario government promising more details soon. In a statement from Michael Minzak, spokesperson to the Minister of Municipal Affairs, “The government continues to actively assess the situation in Ottawa as part of the required process leading to activation of the Disaster Recovery Assistance for Ontarians (DRAO) program. This assessment is being completed as quickly as possible, and further details, including timing and next steps, will be shared once it is finalized. The government will continue to work with the leadership of Ottawa to ensure support is provided to those impacted by the storm.” As for residents, they say after a week of waiting, the toll is not just physical, but emotional. “Everybody’s mental health is severely impacted its like we’re in Hurricane Katrina and we feel abandoned,” said Christopher.
