Accessibility and Access Keys [0]
Another jammed gate in Ottawa’s sewage system caused an unplanned spill into the Ottawa River on Saturday, but city staff say the problem was quickly fixed. And unlike a previous incident in 2006, it was also quickly reported.
The sewage spill happened when a control mechanism at the Booth Street operation of the wastewater system got jammed with debris, allowing sewage to run through and into the river. City staff discovered the problem during an inspection at 9 a.m. and it was fixed by 11:30 a.m., according to a memo sent to city councillors.
The memo from the deputy city manager for public works says the spill was immediately reported to the Ontario Ministry of the Environment and the city’s public health department.
The city posted a no-swimming notice at the Petrie Island beach and notified other water-takers downriver.
The city will have to estimate the amount of sewage spilled into the river and will report that number to the Ontario government and city council by the end of the week, said Dave McCartney, manager of wastewater and drainage.
Sewage spills into the Ottawa River have become an especially contentious issue at city hall after an August 2006 spill of 960,000 cubic metres of sewage and stormwater into the river. The spill, enough to fill 350 Olympic-sized swimming pools, was not reported to the Ontario government until May of 2007 and senior city officials and councillors were only told in May 2008. The case resulted in the firing of a city employee, and an investigation by city auditor Alain Lalonde is under way.
This past weekend’s spill followed a day of heavy rainfall on Friday. During such rainstorms Ottawa’s combined system of sanitary and storm sewers, an older design that covers some of downtown, routinely overflows into the river. (Newer neighbourhoods have separate stormwater and sanitary pipes, which avoid this.) The gate, or regulator, is supposed to move back to its regular position after the rainfall.
Mr. McCartney said the troublesome regulators are being replaced with new ones with computers, to better monitor the capacity of the sewer system and better control the flow of wastewater. The new devices are to be in place by 2010.
Alta Vista Councillor Peter Hume, chairman of city council’s planning and environment committee, said he was pleased with how the city’s staff are handling such incidents, noting that he also was notified of three other spills into the Ottawa River during heavy rains this month.
“That’s what we’re asking for. We’ve been getting a lot of information,” Mr. Hume said.
The larger question is what to do about the regular overflows into the river that come from the combined storm and sanitary systems, which last year amounted to about 730,000 cubic metres of mixed runoff pouring into the Ottawa. The city is waiting for recommendations for projects that will help fix the problem, which could include separation of sanitary and storm sewers or construction of a huge tank for holding wastewater during rainstorms.
The city has committed to $25 million as an initial contribution, but also is counting on the federal and provincial governments to help fund the projects. Federal Environment Minister John Baird has offered $20 million as a contribution. The Ontario government has refused to commit to helping, but Mr. Hume says he thinks Queen’s Park will also contribute once it sees the specific projects.
However, he said water quality in the Ottawa River is a complicated problem that also includes improving the quality of effluent and improving untreated-stormwater handling in some older neighbourhoods.
(C) Ottawa Citizen