Something Stinks Between Watson and Baird
- Thursday, January 19, 2012
E. coli
This past week we’ve seen the issue of sewage in the Ottawa River at the centre of local news. In one corner, we have the federal government’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Ottawa resident, The Hon. John Baird. Clean-up of the Ottawa River, he is quoted as saying, should be the city’s number-one priority. So much so, that he has given Mayor Watson the federal government’s blessing to use part of the $33M in federal funds allocated for Ottawa’s light rapid transit (LRT) to upgrade sewage infrastructure.
In the other corner stands Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson. Under his watch the Ottawa River Action Plan is moving ahead, but the LRT, he says, is Ottawa’s top priority, and every penny of the $33M will be needed to build the system.
For Ottawa citizens it’s hard to know which heavyweight to back. While most of us strongly support a sewage-free river, we also understand the environmental, economic and practical necessity of building an LRT. But before choosing sides, here is Ottawa Riverkeeper’s take on the debate.
1. If the federal government is really concerned about sewage in our rivers, stand by your existing laws instead of intervening in court cases to let sewage-dumpers walk away penalty-free.
To clarify for Minister Baird and all citizens of Canada, it is illegal to dump any pollutant in Canada’s waterways that kills fish, and untreated sewage kills fish. Powerful federal laws are in place to prosecute polluters, but our current government is refusing to enforce these laws. Take, for example, the recent case against Greater Vancouver Regional District and its Iona Sewage Treatment Facility.
Over several years, Fraser Riverkeeper meticulously documented the plant’s release of harmful sewage effluent, an action illegal under the Fisheries Act. But when the case reached the courts, the Attorney General stepped in and had the charges stayed. It was “not in the public interest,” our federal government stated, to enforce the law against this chronic polluter.
With no legal recourse, Fraser Riverkeeper complained to The Commission on Environmental Co-operation, an international body with the authority to investigate cases of member nations not enforcing their environmental laws. The CEC decision, delivered December 13, 2011, agreed with Fraser Riverkeeper that The Government of Canada had circumvented its own laws by staying the charges. The Government’s response to the CEC is expected on February 13th.
If Minister Baird is truly concerned about untreated sewage in the Ottawa River, we strongly encourage him to influence his cabinet colleagues to allow the courts to apply our laws.
2. The City of Ottawa must make sewage infrastructure – and a clean, healthy river – a priority.
At Ottawa Riverkeeper, we believe that cities and communities are responsible for treating the sewage they produce in a way that protects our water resources. To do that, cities and municipalities must place wastewater infrastructure at the top of their priority list.
While Mayor Watson’s government is moving ahead on the Ottawa River Action Plan, it is important to remember that this is not the city’s first attempt to develop a plan. Back in the 1980s, the City wrote the Ottawa River Watershed Action Plan. It covered many of the same issues and priorities as our current plan, but somewhere along the line it died on the table. What prompted the development of our newest plan? The $450,000 fine our city received after a sewage spill in 2006 that they failed to report.
And, while the new Ottawa River Action Plan addresses the problem of sewage entering the river via combined sewer overflows, there is little commitment within the plan to protecting our wetlands, tributaries and floodplains. These areas are nature’s holding and filtration systems. By protecting them, the long-term need for expensive stormwater infrastructure may be reduced.
3. To protect the Ottawa River from untreated sewage, we need leadership and cooperation from all levels of government – federal, provincial and municipal.
The Ottawa River traverses dozens of municipalities, two major cities and acts as a border between Ontario and Quebec. It also passes through First Nations land and the National Capital Region. With so many jurisdictions, who is going to take charge? Who will bring all the players together to ensure that no one dumps untreated sewage in the Ottawa River?
The truth is, no one can do it alone. Only through commitment, cooperation and leadership from all levels of government can we hope to protect the river, and each level of government has a role to play.
First, the Government of Canada must lead the way by enforcing laws already in place to protect our waterways. They must send a clear and unequivocal message: if you pollute, you pay, no matter who you are and what your excuse. If the federal government is not prepared to enforce the laws already in the Fisheries Act, then they must revive the National Wastewater Strategy, with its Wastewater Systems Effluent Regulations. These regulations, which would provide Canada-wide wastewater standards, have languished on a shelf since early 2010.
In addition to implementing these regulations, however, federal and provincial governments must provide fair and consistent funding to help cities and municipalities upgrade their sewer systems to meet new, more stringent, standards.
Finally, cities and municipalities must make improvements to sewer infrastructure their first priority, whether funding is forthcoming or not. We swim, drink and fish in the Ottawa River. The health of our communities is tied to the health of the river.
Our advice to those interested in a sewage-free Ottawa River, don’t be distracted by the straw man standing between Watson and Baird. Demand accountability from all levels of government. Talk to your city councilor, your mayor, your MPP/MNA, and your MP. Ask them what they are doing to stop untreated sewage from floating down the Ottawa River.
We need all levels of government working together to create a true Ottawa River Action Plan.
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