April 22, 2008 - The NDG Community Council hosts an information session about the future of the NDG Escarpment and the Turcot Interchange, Highway 20, and the impacts of these and related projects.

In 8 parts, the first few online now, hear knowledgeable people discuss the important issues surrounding the places discussed herein.  A mixture of citizens, politicians, history and hope conspire to make this an interesting evening and required listening for anyone interested in the development of Montreal’s south-west and west sectors.

[tap, tap] One Moment Please…

One Moment Please

CTV reported in the middle of the night that “… environmentalists have found toxins in the huge piles of snow in the Turcot Yard.”  No word on who they were.  No reaction by City Hall, no comment by a public-servant.

I must suspect something stinks in that the media is blatantly failing to do an adequate job of getting to the bottom of these snow piles which are quickly turning the yard into the *TURCOT GARBAGE DUMP*.  There is more to this than meets the eye.

 Over the years a great number of citizens have fought in many communities the spectre of an impending garbage dump making politicos jump through hoops and perform environmental impact studies before such toxic behemoths could be developed next to residential and commercial (as opposed to industrial) districts.  Our elected officials and their minions have managed to foist a toxic mass, through incompetence or by crook for all we know, (someone didn’t want to shell out all the money it would have taken to move the snow somewhere further away and more apporpriate) next to St-Henri, NDG and who knows where the toxic-dust will fly depending on the blustery winds which are about to become a Spring-storms reality.

It is impossible for this writer to believe that there is no brain at Montreal City Hall who could have come up with a reasonable solution to this trap.  They should at least cover it up, water it down (use crop-dusters) - it would create jobs for the summer - regularly as would be done with hoses on a construction or demolition site generating dust.  This toxic heap also should be monitored for downwind and perimiter fallout, for if we learn nothing else from this we will understand what is going on in and around such a mess.  The heap could be studied.  This is actually an opportunity for foreward-looking researchers.  It’s bad enough the mess was generated, it’s now up to those involved - media, community groups, scientists, urban-planners, city officials, politcians, and Moms & Dads - to do the right thing or we should all prepare for another bout of the “Turcot Toxic Shuffle” come next winter.  And who knows what long-term effects are associated with this sort of toxic dump?  Turcot Toxic

Maybe I’m wrong about all this and there really is no dust problem.  Would you gamble the health of your children on this?  Let’s set up a pic-nic under the Turcot Interchange on a coming Sunday afternoon.  I’ll be wearing my mask, and you?

NEATH has great ongoing coverage including recent valuable photos of the dump’s east end on his blog. Check him out

The Turcot Yard Snow Dump site has been updated and now includes video of the dump from the Falaise Saint Jacques, a high-angle view from the west end of the yard, and a 360-degree panoramic view from inside the snow piles - Ground ZERO as it were.

View the entire site here.

Commentary

Over the past three weeks, in addition to my visual coverage, I’ve had the opportunity to pass the Turcot Yard Snow Dump on a number of occasions and have noticed the snow piles have barely shrunk, the garbage contained in the piles is becoming exposed, the surface of the snow mounds is drying, and I have witnessed toxic-cleanup vehicles working on the site.  Seemingly, aside from their novelty, no one is particularly interested in the potential threat to public health they pose.

I’m Chicken Little, once again.  But the sky is falling; or at least the toxic dust will be falling.

The whole point of the site, and this area of my blog, is to draw attention to the long-term and untangible effects of this sort of pollution.  I liken it to noise pollution (yet another hard-sell cause of mine) where the damage cannot be measured by short-term decibel logs based on intensity (mainly) but, and as medicine is now recognizing, must be examined as a long/medium-term phenomenon which takes weeks, months, years to manifest.

No longer is it acceptable to be exposed to the type of threat we see in the Turcot Yard Snow Dump.  The decision to use these sites was very ill-informed and incompetent on a number of levels including their lack of planning/preparation, lack of motivation to attempt reduction of fallout, and failure to pre-conceive such a winter’s snowfall.  Have the authorities learned nothing from the Ice Storm of 1998? 

There are techniques & methods of minimizing the fallout from the snow piles yet no one is paying attention.

I hope there is a medical student or researcher out there who will take notice of this issue and study the fate of the children living in the area just east, and in the direct path of the prevailing winds, of the toxic Turcot Yard Snow Dump.  This would make a very serious and important contribution to our understanding of urban toxic exposure.

Sadly it is children who will suffer the most as they, as organisms, are incredibly sensitive to their environments, particularly in their fomative and growing years, have no one to stand up for their health.  It is like a form of child-abuse to allow your children to be exposed to such a situation.  We have laws to stop people from exposing their own offspring from the harm of cigarette smoke yet we allow children to live next to a dump so full of chemical waste it is literally protected (sic) by lock and key.

Local mainstream media is also to blame for this state of affairs in their incompetent approach to the issue of the threat to health posed by the toxic-laden snow piles looming blackly on the west horizon from Saint Henri, and in many other locations; where are the news articles about these issues?  Why no coverage of the “stories behind the story” of the snow dumps?  Are there no more “jounalists” in Montreal?  Rampant incompetence.  Why are no journalists hounding the appropriate parties over this fiasco?

It is the responsibility of the media to further the good cause of society, to speak for the common man.  It is high time to speak out against this abomination.

On a realted issue - I invite you to stay tuned for my coverage of the April 24, 2008, information session about the Flaises Saint Jacques hosted by the NDG Community Council.  Those who couldn’t make the meeting will be able to see the highlights and hear the salient points put forth by the many parties interested in the fate of the NDG Escarpment - Falaise Saint-Jacques.  A blog will be dedicated to the Falaise and related issues - just check back here within the week.

“Let the bells ring out and the banners fly, I know it’s too good to be true, but I’m here, I’M HERE !“  Remember that scene from Bugs Bunny?

Welcome to my blogspace.  Strap in tight and hang-on.  This should also be considered a place of open thought and so those with tunnel-vision aren’t likely to survive here.

You will find in this place plenty of my opinion and as much fact as I can muster.   You will want to check out the post “About Me” to find out more but in short I am a:

• Freelance Cinematographer (Studying Directing)
• Videographer - Director of Photography (Freelance)
• Special Events Coordinator - Director of Events
• Internet Technology Consultant
• Web Designer and Integrator
• Director of and performer in TRACK-9 Showband

Contributions are welcome - shit-birds need fly away.

Enjoy the ride.

The Voice Of Dorval . com web site article about the Turcot Yard Snow Dump has been upgraded, more images and data being added.  Video is in the works and will appear this week along with more imaging.

A small but serious environmental disaster in the making.  What were they thinking, or (more to the point) were they thinking at all?
More at: this page.

After telling ex-patriot collegues in the United States that I would shoot some footage and stills of the world’s greatest snow dump, of which they were hearing on the news, I was quite excited to see a fair amount of interest and activity sourrounding the dump and Turcot Yard in general.  This of course leads one to the issues surrounding the Falaise Saint Jacques (NDG Escarpment) and the inherent environmental issues.  The Yard is a very interesting place from many aspects and rife with myth, history, tales and real-life impact potential.  There are a good many people and corporations holding their breath to see what will be the fate of the Turcot Yard, one of the most highly valuable territories in a metropolis anywhere on the globe.  It is touted as “the largest abandoned open air urban space.”

Visiting the link above you will be treated to the entire ongoing story I am exploring around the Yard, the escarpment, and the history of this valuable place.  In addition I will blog my experience here as time allows.