Restoration ongoing at federal properties more than a month after Canada Day flooding, PSPC says
Nineteen federal properties across the National Capital Region were affected by flooding, water infiltration, or other weather-related impacts after a severe rainstorm hit Ottawa on July 1, including west-end workplaces where employees were temporarily relocated and sites where restoration work continues more than a month later.
Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC), which provided the list of affected properties, told The Hill Times that 17 of those are in Ottawa, and two are in Gatineau, Que.
Of the 19 properties, PSPC identified four where the impacts were more significant, three of them in Ottawa's west end: Carling Campus, the Canada Border Services Agency's (CBSA) Uniform 2 Building, and the Canadian Space Agency's (CSA) David Florida Laboratory. The fourth, 22 Eddy St., is in Gatineau.
Departmental responses to The Hill Times show that the consequences varied substantially across the affected sites, from minor water infiltration with little operational effect to laboratory damage that affected approximately 100 people.
Across the 19 affected properties, PSPC said most sites required water removal, drying, cleaning, inspections, and minor repairs. The department said cleanup activities were substantially completed by July 4, allowing normal operations to resume at most locations, while remediation and repair work continued at four properties.
Some of Ottawa’s heaviest rainfall on Canada Day was recorded in the broader west end. The City of Ottawa said in a July 11 memo that preliminary measurements from its rain-gauge network reached 167 millimetres at Britannia, in west-central Ottawa. Environment and Climate Change Canada meteorologist Kate Leclerc told Global News that 118 millimetres was recorded at Ottawa International Airport, breaking the previous July 1 record of 58.9 millimetres set in 1959.
PSPC also identified Natural Resources Canada’s Bells Corners Complex as an affected west-end property, although it was not among the four sites the department described as more significantly impacted.
CBSA turns to other departments' labs
At CBSA’s Uniform 2 Building, at 79 Bentley Ave., water damage affected the space the agency uses for its laboratory.
Approximately 100 people were affected, according to CBSA spokesperson Rebecca Purdy, who said staff were relocated to work from alternate locations while a limited number continued lab work in unaffected areas.
“The CBSA is working with other government departments to utilize their lab space, equipment, and services to ensure that border operations needs are being met,” Purdy said.
PSPC said Aug. 4 that access restrictions remained in place at Uniform 2, along with Carling Campus, as remediation continued. In an Aug. 12 update, Purdy said portions of the site had since returned to service and the number of employees affected by access restrictions continued to decrease as areas were safely restored, though no date was provided for the laboratory's full reopening.
Tunnel systems affected at Carling
Carling Campus, at 60 Moodie Dr., is home to National Defence headquarters.
“Multiple buildings and tunnel systems were impacted, and remediation activities are ongoing,” PSPC said in its Aug. 4 response. The department listed National Defence and PSPC as the principal tenants at the campus.
National Defence said fewer than 30 employees were temporarily moved to work from a different area of the building while affected areas dried out, department spokesperson Andrée-Anne Poulin said on Aug. 13. The temporary relocation has since ended.
“Impacts to areas occupied by DND employees were minimal and required some clean up but did not hinder operations,” Poulin said.
PSPC has not specified which buildings or areas of the campus were affected, or provided further detail on the extent of the damage and the remediation still underway. PSPC did not respond to a follow-up request for those details by The Hill Times’ deadline.
Repairs continue at David Florida lab
The David Florida Laboratory, at 3701 Carling Ave., is used to assemble, integrate, and test spacecraft and space hardware.
“The storm on July 1 resulted in water infiltration into the David Florida Laboratory basement,” CSA spokesperson Sandrine Masella said. “The areas were promptly secured and the source of the infiltration was repaired.”
Mold testing of air and materials returned negative results, Masella said. As of Aug. 12, crews were still replacing drywall damaged by the infiltration.
At the Bells Corners Complex, which houses Natural Resources Canada research and laboratory facilities, several buildings experienced minor water infiltration in isolated areas, largely related to roof drainage and window well conditions during the storm, spokesperson Rachel MacDonald said. NRCan said there was no major structural damage, and no employees were displaced or asked to work remotely.
Staff had to move furniture, equipment, and personal belongings so crews could access the ceiling to investigate the source of the leaks and replace damaged ceiling tiles, MacDonald said. She said the storm caused only minor disruptions to NRCan's operations.
“There was no impact on our research program schedule,” MacDonald said.
More than six weeks after the storm, PSPC has not provided an estimate of the total cleanup and repair costs. In its July 23 response, the department said cost assessments were still underway
The Hill Times