Updated: Enbridge Gas meets with NCC to re-examine station proposal

Enbridge Gas proposed pumping control station relocation site near residences and pathway leaves residents angry and frustrated

By Wes Smiderle

Screenshot of Enbridge gas map of proposed pressure control station relocation sites presented during July 12 2023 public information session.
Screenshot of Enbridge Gas map of proposed pumping control station relocation sites presented during July 12 2023 public information session.

Area residents were heartened by news that Enbridge Gas staff met with the National Capital Commission (NCC) in late August to discuss and rethink a plan to replace and relocate a pumping control station to a new site just off Hillsdale Rd. and Sandridge Rd.\

They hope that the meeting will lead to a decision to change the site’s proposed location.

In July, about 60 residents attended a public information session to learn details of the plan, and also to express their disapproval over the chosen location.

The current station was built in 1985 and is outdated. The structure is about the size of a metal shed, about 3 by 5 metres, and located off a narrow trail south of the Sir George Étienne-Cartier Parkway.

The new station, to be installed in 2024 or 2025, would be built within a fenced lot about 20 by 30 metres, just south of the Hillsdale and Sandridge intersection.

The proposed site is not far from residences on Lakeway Dr. and the trailhead for the pathway that wends through the Caldwell-Carver conservation area–lands administered by the NCC.

The plan sparked an online petition to stop the project.

‘Keep it where it is’

Residents attending the July 12 session expressed concerns about safety, noise and whether it made sense to have an industrial site so close to a residential neighbourhood.

A majority also wondered why the NCC had chosen the proposed site over another one closer to the original station and father away from households.

No NCC staff members attended the July meeting, which was another source of frustration for those in attendance.

During the presentation, Enbridge staff noted that three potential sites had been identified, including one that was not far from the station’s current location.

This site was rejected because of its location next to the Parkway and because building it there would have meant clear-cutting a large area of trees.

Most residents at the meeting felt the trees weren’t significant and could be re-planted. They suggested that Enbridge should “keep it [the station] where it is” and that the NCC, as landowners, seemed to be prioritizing the parkway over the community.

Updates on the plan will be posted on Enbridge’s website, although it’s not clear whether there will be any more public meetings about the project.