Snow Dump Near Downsview Park

[activeday]

Hi -

The city of Toronto each year creates a massive dump right next to Downsview Park - it is supposed to be for snow, but in addition to the snow there is also garabage and waste that seeps right into the ground. I have been told there is also one near Christie Pits. There is a one minute video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUNSqLq8_7E


Who are the best environmental agencies in Toronto that might help the city realize how bad it is to leave a four story pile of waste above a site zoned for housing one day. We are supposed to be a clean and beautiful city - this doesn't look like either.

Help!

 

[nfitz]

It's a snow dump, it will melt. I'm sure there's bottle and such in there ... why would that surprise anyone ... but look along the sides of a suburban artery - there is all sorts of crap, especially where there are ditches.

Would you prefer they go back to what they used to do, and just dump it directly into Lake Ontario? What would you suggest they do?

 

[Prometheus The Supremo]

i bet there's a bit of oil and other chemicals in that pile, stuff that drips from automobiles onto the road, etc. the same stuff that accumulates in all the snow piled on the sides of roads everywhere in our city. that snow then melts and the contaminants in it go into the soil. needless to day, the sides of roads is not an ideal place for growing organic crops.

you notice all the gunk when it's mixed with snow but throughout the year, gunk all over the city gets washed into the sewers and into our rivers.

i can imagine there's quite a bit of salt too.

 

[activeday]

Thanks -

Good point Prometheus with " I bet there's a bit of oil and other chemicals in that pile".

I guess I just can't figure out how come if it's so bad that you can't put it into the lake ( which makes sense ) then the city just decides to create a mountain of it all and then let it go into the ground - I guess maybe because Downsview Park is so far away that people think it's okay ( kind of like the propane thing last year ).

 

[afransen]

I'd suggest you get some evidence to back your claims.

 

[activeday]

Good idea ( and thanks! )

There are big fences around the dump - what is the best way to have the material analyzed? This would involve not only looking at the 300 feet of waste left there, but also the potential effects that this has already had on the existing soil and the surrounding park land.

Do you know if you can call the city and ask that they provide a sample of the soil for a proper analysis? Would they also provide a breakdown of the chemicals that are in the "snow" ( which is now no longer snow, but a very unpleasant brown sludge ).

Do you know of other dumps like this in the GTA?

 

[DavidJamesTO]

Would you prefer they go back to what they used to do, and just dump it directly into Lake Ontario? What would you suggest they do?

I don't know about the solids, but the liquids in the pile are probably going to end up in Lake Ontario eventually anyway.

 

[activeday]

Looks like Downsview Park isn't the only place where these dumps are a concern ....

"While it may be nice to have clear roads for driving and parking, the environmental impact on the Don is severe. Accompanying the snow is a large amount of road salt. The salt when dissolved in water becomes toxic to aquatic life in the quantities contained here. In previous studies, levels as high as 4000 mg/l (milligrams per litre) have been found in melt waters after a spring thaw in the Don River. Provincial water quality levels call for no more than 200 mg/l of salt in water. Not too many things can live in water this salty.

In addition to the salt there is also other road pollutants such as oil, grease, ethylene glycol (antifreeze), and all sorts of other garbage that gets scooped up with the snow. These chemicals either enter the water or contaminate the ground where the snow dump resides. Many of the trees surrounding this dump have already died due to the toxic runoff from this dump"


http://donwatcher.blogspot.com/2008/02/snow-dump-watch.html

 

[digi]

Do you know of other dumps like this in the GTA?

Cherry beach.

Where do you suggest this snow be put?

 

[Prometheus The Supremo]

I'd suggest you get some evidence to back your claims.

you talkin' to me?

whatever is on the roads, sidewalks, etc. is in that pile. BUT, since oil and water don't mix to well, i willing to bet the problem isn't as bad, with oil of course.

Good idea ( and thanks! )

There are big fences around the dump - what is the best way to have the material analyzed? This would involve not only looking at the 300 feet of waste left there, but also the potential effects that this has already had on the existing soil and the surrounding park land.

Do you know if you can call the city and ask that they provide a sample of the soil for a proper analysis? Would they also provide a breakdown of the chemicals that are in the "snow" ( which is now no longer snow, but a very unpleasant brown sludge ).

i don't think there's too much reason to worry. the stuff that's in that snow is all over the GTA in roadside piles of snow, etc. also, whenever it rains, everything on the roads gets washed into the sewers, into the rivers and into the lakes. instead of worrying about the pile, the bigger issue is poorly maintained automobiles.

most of the disgusting color in the pile comes from dirt, asphalt particles and maybe tire particles.

look on the bright side, most of the automobile chemicals in that pile (which are probably trace amounts) will breakdown over time with the help of soil microbes.



a suggestion for dumping the snow would be to do it on some sort of membrane which prevents ground absorption and in a place where the runoff would go into sanitary sewers where it can be treated.

constructing such a site and membrane would probably do more damage to the environment than the trace amounts of chemicals you'd be trying to prevent from going into the soil in the first place though.


you can't win.

 

[Hydrogen]

If you're going to dump snow, may as well dump it in the same places. If you are concerned about waste hitting the lake, the worst way to deal with that is to deposit the snow into the lake. A certain amount of "residue" will be filtered into the earth.

 

[Prometheus The Supremo]

If you're going to dump snow, may as well dump it in the same places. If you are concerned about waste hitting the lake, the worst way to deal with that is to deposit the snow into the lake. A certain amount of "residue" will be filtered into the earth.

sometimes when contaminants filter into the soil, they bind with certain compounds present in the ground and become less of an issue.

i agree that dumping directly into the lake is the worst thing to do. the sad reality is that alot of stuff similar to that pile gets washed into the lake from sources around the GTA every winter.

i guess a giant mountain of black snow looks more alarming than the black snow on the sides of main streets throughout the GTA in winter. an then, you only notice it because it's in snow.

 

[activeday]

"sometimes when contaminants filter into the soil, they bind with certain compounds present in the ground and become less of an issue"

Um .... did you really truly read that before you typed it ????

 

[Prometheus The Supremo]

"sometimes when contaminants filter into the soil, they bind with certain compounds present in the ground and become less of an issue"

Um .... did you really truly read that before you typed it ????

how come?

 

[Edward]

Do you know of other dumps like this in the GTA?

Don Valley near the DVP ramps and the Bayview extension.