City Testing Finds No Mercury Contamination Concern on Kanata Lakes Pathways

New City of Ottawa testing has found no unacceptable mercury contamination risk on eight public pathway links surrounding the former Kanata Lakes Golf Course, providing a significant new piece of evidence for residents concerned about environmental effects beyond the redevelopment site itself.

What the pathway testing found
The City's Environmental Remediation Unit retained WSP Canada to collect shallow soil samples from 35 locations on City-owned pathways connecting nearby neighbourhoods with the former golf course. According to the City's September update, mercury was detected at low levels in every pathway sample. Still, all concentrations were well below Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks standards applicable to residential and parkland uses. The investigation concluded that historical golf course activities had not contaminated shallow soils on the tested City pathways and that no unacceptable risk to pathway users was anticipated. One sample exceeded an available standard for boron, which the City attributed to naturally occurring organic matter rather than a public health concern.

A different picture on the golf course itself
The pathway findings contrast with what investigators found on the former golf course property, where contamination has already been documented. A 2021 Phase Two environmental site assessment found mercury exceeding provincial standards in about 20 percent of 74 soil samples taken across the course, with the highest concentrations clustered in former putting greens, where 69 percent of samples exceeded the standard, and tee boxes, where 50 percent did. The maximum concentration recorded was 2.7 micrograms per gram, and more recent preliminary testing found one sample as high as 3.0 micrograms per gram. The contamination is attributed to the historical use of mercury-containing fungicides used to control snow mould until they were discontinued in the 1990s.

Why the distinction matters for redevelopment
The City says redevelopment of the golf course property will still require remediation wherever mercury exceeds the standard for future residential and parkland uses, and additional environmental work is required before the developer can obtain the records needed for redevelopment approval. The new pathway testing does not remove those remediation requirements on the development site. It answers a narrower, different question: whether historical golf course activity created a broader shallow soil contamination problem on the public pathways used daily by neighbourhood residents, separate from the golf course land itself.

Stormwater and the next phase of review
Earlier City inspections also examined stormwater concerns. Three samples collected between March and April, including one at the golf course's private stormwater system entry point, showed mercury below the laboratory detection limit of 0.1 micrograms per litre and within the requirements of Ottawa's Sewer Use By-law, with no evidence of illicit discharges, dewatering, or violations found. The environmental review of the wider neighbourhood is not finished: the City has initiated Phase One environmental site assessments at seven City-owned parks surrounding the golf course to examine historical and current land uses and determine whether any of those properties need more detailed investigation.

What residents can take from the results
The former golf course redevelopment has generated sustained neighbourhood attention because of the proposal's scale and the land's environmental history. WSP is serving as an independent technical adviser to the City, reviewing environmental submissions against professional standards, and has previously identified gaps in earlier environmental assessment work submitted for the site. For Kanata Lakes residents, the pathway results provide a clearer answer to one immediate concern: the tested public links show no evidence of shallow soil mercury contamination above provincial standards. The larger redevelopment remains subject to additional environmental investigation, remediation, and regulatory review.