New federal sewage regulations disappoint: dumping to continue for the next 30 years
By Meredith Brown, Ottawa Riverkeeper - Friday, June 11, 2010
In February 2010 Environment Canada released the long anticipated draft of federal wastewater regulations that were developed to safeguard Canadian waterways from the growing threat of pollution from municipal wastewater (sewage) systems. Ottawa Riverkeeper and other Canadian environmental organizations are concerned that these proposed new wastewater regulations are full of loopholes that will allow for continued dumping of untreated sewage into Canadian waterways. The most significant aspect of the proposed change is that the regulation would decriminalize sewage discharges that are currently illegal under the Fisheries Act, leaving citizens with little recourse to take action against ongoing pollution problems in their communities. Of course the timelines associated with the proposed regulations have raised a few eyebrows; Environment Canada would give many Canadian municipalities up to 30 years to improve the quality of the sewage they discharge into their local waters.
Sewage releases, even those that follow primary or secondary treatment, can be toxic to fish and wildlife, cause bacteria levels that make beaches unsafe for swimming, and threaten the integrity of our aquatic ecosystems. Our wastewater is a toxic cocktail of diverse substances, many of them recognized as known poisons or chemicals of emerging concern. Take everything that is being flushed down a drain or sewer – raw sewage, hormone disrupting chemicals, pharmaceuticals, industrial compounds, road salts, toxins from household products and more – mix it all together and dump it into your river. Yes, dump it into your drinking water source. It doesn’t seem right, does it?
It is commonly known that the practice of dumping untreated sewage into surface waters has health and safety consequences. The United States, for example, mandated advanced treatment for wastewater systems nearly 30 years ago. Here in Canada, wastewater treatment plants make up the 14 largest water polluters in Canada. Many Canadian municipalities are relying on basic treatment technologies that are not designed to deal with the cocktail of chemicals we are flushing down our drains. The composition of our wastewater has greatly changed over the past 50 years, thanks to the continual addition of new chemicals and toxins in our everyday lives. Now many of these “chemicals of emerging concern” are found in our groundwater, surface waters and even our drinking water in small quantities.
I have concerns that municipalities will be investing millions of dollars to update their treatment facilities to meet these national regulations, but may not necessarily meet our future needs for clean water. We should be investing in cleaner technologies and providing incentives for municipalities to comply swiftly with the new regulations. Thirty years is a lifetime away if you live on the Grand River in Labrador and you are waiting for your community to provide treatment for its wastewater effluent so that your kids can swim safely in the river.
Untreated sewage is often released into our waterways from combined sewer overflows and sanitary sewer overflows. Although the new regulator is asking municipalities for plans to reduce these overflows, the actual act of dumping the untreated sewage will still be allowed. This is not addressing a significant amount of untreated sewage that is dumped each year into our rivers and lakes.
As a watchdog for the health of the Ottawa River, my fundamental questions are:
1. How will the public know if their municipality is continually in compliance with the new national standards?
2. If a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) fails to meet national standards, what are the consequences?
Unfortunately the proposed effluent regulation makes no mention of any administrative fine assessment for WWTPs who fail to meet the compliance standards set forth therein. It is well documented that significant fines, along with public disclosure act as deterrents to non-compliance.
Ottawa Riverkeeper, along with other Canadian Waterkeeper organizations, sent a series of recommendations to Environment Canada to improve wastewater regulations under the Fisheries Act. We conclude that Canada must improve wastewater systems regulation without decriminalizing sewage pollution. To effectively address sewage pollution in Canada, section 36(3) of the Fisheries Act should apply in tandem with a regulation that addresses the following issues:
• A strong regulation would address substances of emerging concern found in wastewater effluent rather than focusing solely on traditional contaminants.
• A strong regulation would set enforceable targets for the reduction and elimination of combined sewer overflows (CSOs) and sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs).
• A strong regulation would include a detailed, daily administrative fine schedule for any violation of its conditions, as well as an allocation of administrative power to an appropriate governmental agency to assess and collect any fines.
• A strong regulation would include improved mechanisms for the public to access compliance and monitoring records as well as revised document retention schedules.
Please add your voice to this public debate by sharing your thoughts with your federal representative. The Fisheries Act and Wastewater Systems Effluent Regulations are important tools in the protection and preservation of our environment and our waterways. This is an opportunity to strengthen our laws, and we can’t allow our federal government to continue weakening such important protective regulations. The future of Canadian waterways is in public hands. It is now up to each of us to stand up to say, “We want clean and healthy rivers, lakes and oceans. Stop dumping raw sewage into our waterways”.
To read the full Canadian Waterkeeper Submission, click here
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