Editing Cornwall, Ontario (section)

=== Environment ===
Cornwall does not enjoy a positive environmental reputation as a result of decades of industrial pollution in the city, the legacy of which is a riverfront contaminated by [[mercury (element)|mercury]], [[zinc]], [[lead]], and [[copper]],<ref>{{cite web |title=International Joint Commission Assessment|url=http://www.ijc.org/php/publications/html/stlawrence/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927195006/https://www.ijc.org/php/publications/html/stlawrence/|archive-date=September 27, 2007|page=7}}</ref> soil contaminated by [[coal tar]] and byproducts,<ref>{{cite web |title=Canada's RAP Progress Report 2003: St. Lawrence River (Cornwall)|url=http://www.on.ec.gc.ca/water/raps/report_2003/StLawrence_e.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050312052204/http://www.on.ec.gc.ca/water/raps/report_2003/StLawrence_e.html|archive-date=March 12, 2005|publisher=Environment Canada}}</ref> and most evidently, "Big Ben",<ref>{{cite web |url=http://home.cogeco.ca/~vote/page5a.html |title=Big Ben Recreation and Landfill Area |access-date=February 22, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071106162853/http://home.cogeco.ca/~vote/page5a.html |archive-date=November 6, 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> an {{convert|18|ha|adj=on}}, {{convert|80|m|ft|adj=mid|-tall}} dumpsite within the city filled with wood bark, paper mill sludge, demolition waste and [[asbestos]].

In September 2008, over public opposition and in spite of Ontario Ministry of Environment (M.O.E.) reports indicating off-site [[leachate]] impact from the dump and the likelihood of runoff to the St. Lawrence River, the M.O.E. permitted additional dumping at the "Big Ben" site of [[creosote]] and [[bitumen]]-contaminated soils from Domtar's former No-co-rode Ltd. site.

Although the area is touted as recreational, it is off-limits until winter when the waste is covered and the odours are subdued. It is then used as a ski hill.[[File:BigBenSign.JPG|right|thumb| Big Ben Dump in Cornwall]]

For years, the industrial emissions in the Cornwall area fuelled public health concerns about respiratory disease and cancer. In 1995 Health Canada<ref>[http://dsp-psd.communication.gc.ca/Collection/H49-96-2-1995E-2.pdf Investigating Human Exposure to Contaminants in the Environment (Published by Health Canada)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081030013044/http://dsp-psd.communication.gc.ca/Collection/H49-96-2-1995E-2.pdf |date=October 30, 2008 }}</ref> reported the rate of hospitalization for asthma was approximately double that of Ontario industrial cities such as [[Hamilton, Ontario|Hamilton]], [[Greater Sudbury|Sudbury]] and [[Windsor, Ontario|Windsor]]. Further research showed that infants under two years of age had four times the expected hospital admission rate for asthma. Lung and male rectal cancer rates were also elevated in comparison with the rest of the province.

The shutdown of the Courtaulds rayon fiber operation (1992) and the Domtar paper mill (2006) has been a significant factor in the city's improved air quality. Cornwall consistently ranks in the top 10 of 40 monitored communities across Ontario. More recently, a Pembina Institute study of 29 communities across Ontario examined a number of environmental, social, and economic factors. Cornwall ranked 13th overall, and its air quality was ranked #1 in the province.

Cornwall was at one point one of only two cities left in the Province of Ontario with only primary sewage treatment facilities. But construction was started in May 2012 on the secondary treatment level plant with the Governments of Canada and Ontario each covering one-third of an estimated $55.5 million construction cost. The City picked up the remaining one-third of the cost of $18.5 million. The secondary treatment level plant was completed in November 2014.

In 2006, the City updated its Strategic Plan, including the objective to develop an environmentally sustainable community.<ref>{{Cite web |date=October 2016 |others=Prepared by McSweeny |title=City of Cornwall Economic Development Strategic Plan |url=https://choosecornwall.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Cornwall-Economic-Development-Strategic-Plan-2016.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407010206/https://choosecornwall.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Cornwall-Economic-Development-Strategic-Plan-2016.pdf |archive-date=2022-04-07 |access-date=2022-12-23 |website=choosecornwall.ca |page=38}}</ref>

In 2007, a former city councillor, Naresh Bhargava, began working with the St. Lawrence River Institute of Environmental Sciences on a project called the Community Carbon Reduction Initiative. City Council provided $5,000 in start-up funding for the project.{{Citation needed|date=April 2007}} Earlier progress in energy conservation was made when in 1995, the first municipally owned hot water district heating and [[cogeneration]] system in Canada went into operation, providing about 4% of the city's daily electrical needs while at the same time heating a number of buildings, including a hospital site, schools, and a municipal library.<ref>{{Cite web |date=August 28, 2008 |title=Cornwall, Ontario District Heating System - Utilization of Local Energy Sources |url=https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/sites/www.nrcan.gc.ca/files/canmetenergy/files/pubs/Cornwall+DHS.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407010208/https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/sites/www.nrcan.gc.ca/files/canmetenergy/files/pubs/Cornwall+DHS.pdf |archive-date=2022-04-07 |access-date=October 5, 2021 |website=[[Natural Resources Canada]]}}</ref> Cornwall converted all of its traffic signals in 2002 to energy-efficient LEDs that have reduced power usage by more than 600&nbsp;kW—enough to light close to 70 homes. The data was contained in a report prepared by the city's public works department.