The Carlsbad Springs Community Association and local residents pushing back against the city’s bid to buy a landfill near Hwy 417 at Boundary Rd.

The community of Carlsbad Springs is pushing back against Ottawa’s plan to buy an east-end landfill (the Capital Region Resource Recovery Centre, CRRRC), based on reporting from CTV News and other related sources.

🗞️ What’s Happening

• Ottawa city staff and council are moving forward with a plan to purchase a large private landfill site in the city’s east end (near Carlsbad Springs) as part of long-term waste management planning.

• This landfill, officially known as the Capital Region Resource Recovery Centre, is currently privately owned and already approved for waste disposal.

  
  

📣 Community Group Opposition

• The Carlsbad Springs Community Association and local residents are pushing back against the city’s bid to buy the landfill. They’ve raised concerns about the potential impacts on their community.

• Their feedback highlights worries about things like environmental effects, truck traffic, neighbourhood character, property values, and the site’s proximity to sensitive areas (similar to concerns raised historically around other landfill debates).

  
  

📊 City’s Position

• City officials argue the purchase is about securing long-term waste capacity for Ottawa, especially as existing facilities (like Trail Road Landfill) approach capacity.

• They also say owning the site gives Ottawa more control over how it’s operated and what types of waste it accepts.

• There are confidentiality restrictions on how much the city can currently disclose about the terms of the deal.

  
  

🧩 Key Tension

The core of the debate isn’t whether the land will be used as a landfill—the site already has approvals and will continue to operate—but who controls it and how decisions about waste disposal are made.

Local Community Concerns

1. Impact on Rural Character and Quality of LifeResidents of Carlsbad Springs and members of the Carlsbad Springs Community Association worry that being tied to a major landfill site — even if the city owns it — could affect the rural character of their community and daily life in the area.

2. Environmental and Health WorriesThere are environmental concerns about having a large waste disposal facility so close to homes, including potential effects on local air quality, water, and the surrounding natural environment. Residents fear that increased landfill activity could harm the local environment.

3. Traffic and Infrastructure StrainMany in the community are worried about increased truck traffic and the strain it could put on local roads and infrastructure, which are not designed for heavy industrial transport.

4. Transparency and Decision-MakingSome residents and community leaders have expressed frustration over how the city has communicated and consulted with the public on the landfill purchase, saying they feel decisions are being made without adequate input from locals.

5. Sense of Being “Dumping Ground”There is also a broader feeling of frustration about rural communities being chosen for facilities that serve the broader city, sometimes described by locals as being treated like a “backyard dumping ground.”

Letters sent to the mayor of Ottawa, City Councillors and shared with the media:

CSCALetter(20260114) (AB) final.pdf

Download PDF • 204KB

CSCALetter(20251114)reCRRRC (2).pdf

Download PDF • 399KB