Join us for a walking tour guided by Dr. Mary Louise Adams (School of Kinesiology and Health Studies) and Dr. Alexander Braun (Department of Geological Sciences and Geological Engineering).
Details:
Standing in the middle of Belle Park today, it can be hard to remember that the site was once a municipal dump. Belle Park sits on land created as the Great Cataraqui Marsh was filled with garbage. Beneath its thin soil layer lie two decades of household and industrial waste. In 1998, The City of Kingston was convicted on three charges of having allowed pollution to run from the dump into the river. The convictions forced the City to develop a plan for the monitoring and management of leachate. But there is still much we do not know about what is going on below the surface at Belle Park.
What can data from Belle Park suggest to us about what we need to know for dealing with contaminated sites? These questions are especially urgent as the City considers a developer’s proposal to remediate and build on the highly contaminated Tannery lands just south of Belle Park, and as Transport Canada is proposing a major ‘clean up’ of contamination in the Inner Harbour. Concerned citizens are asking: what is known and what do we need to know to make sound decisions in relation to these proposed projects?
This tour will focus on what we have learned from research in Belle Park and on the questions that are emerging in relation to the proposed remediation of the Tannery lands and the Inner Harbour. We will discuss the social, cultural and environmental situation of Belle Park, a conglomerate of human and natural ecosystems.
The walk will be on the gravel service road hugging the park to the south and overlooking the Tannery lands.
This event is free to attend and open to all. No registration required. COVID protocols apply, so please bring a mask and maintain proper distancing.
*Rain date: Tues. Oct. 19th 4-6pm.
Annotated map of Belle Park, showing an aerial view of Belle Park, Belle Island, and labels identifying “Protected wetland” and “Former Tannery” south of Belle Park.