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For every day that raw sewage spewed into the Ottawa River over the past decade, the city could be on the hook for $25,000.
At a closed-door meeting of city council last night, information came to light that at least eight sewage spills might have occurred between 1998 and 2008 without any notification to the Ministry of the Environment.
The spills in question resulted in what’s believed to be 197 days when hundreds of millions of litres of raw sewage might have poured into the river.
“We’re reviewing new information which was referred to the ministry’s investigative branch,” said Kate Jordan, a spokeswoman for the MOE. “Our investigators will decide if charges are warranted.”
If the MOE determines that each spill had an adverse impact on the environment, the city could be fined $25,000 a day—or $3.22 million. If it turns out city officials failed to report the spills, the city could face even more fines.
Ministry officials confirmed yesterday that they had received notification from the city Thursday that several spills likely occurred in the past 10 years which might not have been reported.
Jordan said investigators will look at things such as the circumstances surrounding each spill, the duration of each incident, whether the incidents resulted in any adverse effects and whether the ministry received the proper notification.
Any charges could come on top of those already faced by the city in relation to a spill in 2006 which went unreported until this year.
POTENTIAL $72M FINE
In the case of that incident, the city could be forced to pay up to $72 million in fines. The city goes to court on those charges next month.
Investigations into spills since 1998 are part of a probe launched earlier this year into a large spill in August 2006 which went unreported for two years, officials said yesterday.
On Thursday, city officials announced they will spend $19 million from previous capital budgets to upgrade the sewer system and improve mechanisms to detect, report and respond to sewer overflows and spills.
The MOE investigation will run alongside probes by the city manager’s office and the auditor general.
“This certainly hasn’t been confidence-building and I believe accountability is key,” said Coun. Peter Hume. “Sometimes incidents like these can occur because of an ‘out of sight, out of mind’ mentality, but when it happens, if someone is to blame, that person should be held to account, whether it’s a member of city staff or a politician.”
(C) Ottawa Sun