Environment Hamilton
22 Wilson St L8R 1C5 Hamilton, ON, Canada

We are always concerned when we hear about a proposal to introduce a more intensive use to areas with special protections under the Niagara Escarpment Plan, Lukasik said. While reuse of an existing building is a laudable thing, it is clear that the existing restrictions are in place to prevent intensive human uses in this area. A high school with 1,000 students (and) 80 faculty sure sounds like a very intensive use of this area. We wonder why Columbia isn't looking for an urban location for their school.

Pleased to be part of MPP Sandy Shaw's EMERGENCY ENVIRONMENT VIRTUAL TOWN HALL happening this Thursday! Details below - sign up to learn more about what you can do to help protect and enhance Ontario's environment!

New post! #PollinatorParadise Debbie Linderman and Dennis Price; #MonarchAwards2020 Recipients. "When Debbie moved into Dennis’ Hamilton Mountain home, Rymal road, there were already Carolinian tree species on this of an acre-sized lot. First-time applicants of the Monarch Awards 2020, the couple have been planting gardens for nature since 2012. They are seated shoulder to shoulder for this zoom conversation. Which of you has the green thumbs? I ask.... My green thumbs are more with my veggie garden, Dennis says, but I just did a pollinator garden on the front lawn though. Before meeting Dennis, I was very ‘plant-blind,’ Debbie turns to Dennis, now I am getting to know more plants than he does, she jokes. I’m beginning to forget names. I’m still working, so I don’t have enough time, Dennis defends himself, but I’ll pick it up again when I retire. Debbie admits that her passion is birds, but then through osmosis, I started seeing the connection; you need the insects that are connected to the plants for the birds to be healthy, and so on, she says, referring to Doug Tallamy’s book, Bringing Nature Home. Read on: https://www.hamiltonpollinatorparadise.org//this-couples-p Monarch Awards Hamilton Hamilton Naturalists' Club Royal Botanical Gardens See more

Our climate campaign coordinator Ian had a great time chatting on this livestream put together by MSU Advocacy on environmental justice and racism!

Short notice, we know - but City of Hamilton just shared details with us regarding Home Energy Retrofit workshops happening virtually this coming Saturday, November 21st. Details below. You must register to participate. There are two workshop timeslots to choose from: 10am - 12noon and 2pm - 4pm.

KNOW YOUR ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS & USE THEM! Bartek Ingredients - a chemical plant located in Stoney Creek - has applied to amend its provincial air & noise Environmental Compliance Approval (ECA). We have prepared an information sheet to provide community members with the basic information needed to prepare and submit a comment to the provincial Ministry of Environment through the on-line Environmental Registry of Ontario. The deadline to comment is November 20th. Use the link below to access the information sheet.

Our friends at Hamilton 350 are holding a 'Drop Schedule 6' phone zap tomorrow to make more noise about the Ford Government's plans to gut the Conservation Authorities Act. Please participate if you can - details via link below!

THE DRAFT LAND NEEDS ASSESSMENT prepared by City of Hamilton planning staff is now available for public review. We've been talking about this report and the fact that it is critically important as it sets out HOW MUCH LAND city planners think we will need to accommodate Hamilton's provincially projected population and jobs growth to the year 2051. The draft report will go to a SPECIAL GENERAL ISSUES COMMITTEE MEETING on December 14th of this year. You can access more ...details - including the draft Land Needs Assessment via the link to the city website provided below. Note that the LAND NEEDS BUDGET is impacted by the inputs into the land needs assessment - including municipal intensification (growth through redevelopment in the urban build up area) and density (people & jobs per hectare accommodated through new growth in suburban areas within the urban boundary). More ambitious intensification and density targets will mean less need to expand into rural Hamilton to accommodate growth. More compact urban growth means a smaller carbon footprint for municipalities serious about building postcarbon cities that are truly climate resilient. See more

HELP US STOP SPRAWL - and advocate for a sustainable, climate resilient, inclusive city at the same time! The city is in the midst of a 'Residential Zoning Project', which will unfold in three stages: Stage 1 = Low Density, Stage 2 = High Density, Stage 3 = Medium Density. The city is currently consulting on Stage 1 - LOW DENSITY - and is looking for public feedback on policies to support 'Second Dwelling Units' or SDUs across urban neighbourhoods. SDUs represent a ...wonderful form of 'gentle density', helping to make more efficient use of space within existing urban neighbourhoods. SDUs are beneficial for many reasons including: -Help to accommodate population growth within the urban boundary (more efficient use of urban land helps to avoid need to sprawl out into rural areas) - Help to make home ownership feasible for more people by providing rental unit potential within a primary dwelling. -Help to increase the availability of rental housing across the city. -Help to increase density in existing neighbourhooods thereby making it viable to increase community amenities like transit service, local retail/commercial etc. Creating zoning to support SDUs requires the city to pay careful attention to rules around parking, landscaping, modifications to a home's appearance to name a few. We all have an opportunity now to weigh in on the city's SDU proposals. USE THE LINK BELOW to access the webpage for this initiative. Note that there is a survey the public can respond to and there are two upcoming VIRTUAL TOWN HALLS that you can register to attend - Thursday, Nov 12th at 7pm & Monday Nov 16th at 1pm.

Some analysis from our friends at Canadian Environmental Law Association regarding the Ford Government's plans to gut our conservation authorities: On November 5, 2020, the Ontario government tabled omnibus budget measures Bill 229 in the Ontario Legislature, Schedule 6 of which proposes fundamental changes to the Conservation Authorities Act and to the conservation authorities’ role in land use planning. Bill 229 is the most recent in a disturbing trend of using omnibus budg...et measures bills to make substantial changes to environmental laws, thereby sidestepping the public’s right to comment under the Environmental Bill of Rights. In CELA’s view, the proposed changes to conservation authorities in Bill 229 will not achieve the crucially important goal of building climate resilience for Ontario. To the contrary, the package of amendments as proposed are likely to set back watershed planning and implementation of an ecosystem based approach by decades.

More details regarding the malfunction at Dofasco this past weekend in this article from CBC Hamilton.

Our friends at Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion are holding their AGM this Thursday. Please consider attending to learn more about the important work they are doing in our city!

KNOW YOUR ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS - & USE THEM! Columbia College has applied for an amendment to the Niagara Escarpment Plan to allow the school to convert the former Sisters of St. Joseph convent - located within the Pleasantview area in Dundas - to establish a campus for 1,000 students within an area designated Niagara Escarpment Natural Area & Niagara Escarpment Rural Area. The application includes expanding the facility to build a gymnasium and expanding the septic field for the facility to support a 1000 student facility. Click on the link below to access more detailed information about the application. The deadline to submit comments via the Environmental Registry of Ontario is NOVEMBER 30TH!

Amazing opportunity here: "In this webinar, experts will expand the boundaries of what we normally talk about when we talk about biodiversity and urban nature to include mental health and wellbeing, Indigenous land stewardship, inclusion, and the connection between all of those things."

Many people shared pics of horrible emissions coming from ArcelorMittal Dofasco this afternoon. The company sent an email out to Community Liaison Committee members with some details about what happened. Here is the text of that message: Dear CLC Members, There was an incident at the company’s No.2 Caster this afternoon at 1:22 p.m. The caster is where liquid steel is cast into slabs. There was a malfunction in the transfer of the liquid steel into the caster, causing a s...pill. The area is controlled and secure as of approximately 2:25 p.m. Fortunately, there are no injuries as employees are not allowed in the area for safety reasons. However, the incident resulted in a significant visible emission, likely due to both fire and contact between the liquid steel and water. The company’s Fire Department responded and managed the incident. Hamilton fire also attended for support. The Ontario Ministry of Environment, Parks and Conservation’s Spills Action Centre has been alerted as required. Our teams are on site investigating and further information will be provided if and when available. Best regards, John Lundrigan | General Manager / Director, Environment ArcelorMittal Dofasco Environment Department | Box 2460, 1330 Burlington St. E. Hamilton, Ontario L8N 3J5 T 905-548-7200 x6100 | F 905-548-7000 | www.arcelormittal.com | http://dofasco.arcelormittal.com

OPPOSITION IS GROWING to the Ford Government's plan to gut Ontario's conservation authorities. We need our CAs now more than ever before. Their watershed planning and management skills are essential for building climate resilient communities. And, heck, who hasn't enjoyed a local conservation area during the pandemic? Many individual Ontarians, community organizations, municipal councils, conservation authorities, the government's own Greenbelt Council - are speaking out and calling for the government to remove Schedule 6 from Bill 229. Have you taken action yet? Please call or write your MPP or send them a letter electronically using the link below!

A new rooftop camera at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory will help researchers study how the local forest is responding to the weather, seasonal shifts, and the changing climate.

The latest from Bill McKibben in the New Yorker Magazine: And we’ve seen great investigative reporting lay out the fact that the big oil companies have known of the causes of climate change since at least the nineteen-eighties, and worked actively to deny them or cover them up. Clearly, that was immoral. So what do we say in 2020 about the people who are still helping the oil majors and the gas utilities in their efforts to slow a transition to clean energy?

Some more coverage of our delegations and response to the city's update on addressing the #ClimateEmergency!

Environment Hamilton's executive director Lynda Lukasik says the discovery isn't surprising given Hamilton's industrial history. "It was interesting, but maybe not shocking to hear," she said, adding that the discovery can be seen as more "unnerving" because of its location. But the talk about human exposure to benzo(a)pyrene has her pointing toward the coke batteries at the steel mills, which release this same containment into the air. ... "Every single day...this stuff is getting into the air that we breathe, and it's impacting some Hamiltonians more than others," she said. She said there needs to be more community awareness, and also raised the question on why it took so long for councillors to hear about the soil when it was likely to have public concern.

Some CBC coverage of our delegations to the city's General Issues Committee today regarding city progress in tackling the Climate Emergency

I find that with the issuance of the MZO for Durham Live and its complete destruction of an irreplaceable Provincially Significant Wetland, I have simply had enough, writes Pim, in a letter to Clark sent Wednesday morning. I cannot in all conscience continue to sit on the Greenbelt Council which has provided you with its best advice on urban and regional planning issues in the Greenbelt and the entire Greater Golden Horseshoe (GGH) advice which seems to me to have not been given due consideration. Pim added that Clark’s decision on Durham Live that runs totally counter to decades-long provincial policy mandating complete protection of PSWs. *Note - PSW = provincially significant wetland

RESPONDING TO THE CLIMATE EMERGENCY - Did you miss Environment Hamilton's delegations to the city's General Issues Committee today regarding the update on city progress in addressing the climate crisis? You can read the full text of the delegations via the link below!

Happening right now: Staff presenting on the City of Hamilton's Corporate Action Task Forces' Climate Action Plan.

ACTION ALERT!! Seriously - while the pandemic continues to rage, the provincial Ford Government is granting approvals to develop on provincially significant wetland areas?!?!?

When the world is safe for the most vulnerable in our communities, then it will be safe for everyone. Safe in public spaces exhibition, Radical Love at The Bentway with Syrus Marcus Ware is on until November 11th.