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OTTAWA – The City of Ottawa pleaded guilty Thursday to dumping a massive amount of raw sewage into the Ottawa River two years ago and subsequently failing to report the discharge to the provincial government.
The two charges under the Ontario Water Resources Act were laid against the city in July after a two-month investigation into the spill.
“Today’s pleas demonstrate the city’s responsibility and ownership over the sewage discharge,” said Stuart Huxley, a lawyer for the municipality.
Penalties range from a minimum of $25,000 to a maximum of $6 million for each day of the spill.
On Wednesday, two senior city managers were fired and two more were disciplined for their handling of the spill, which occurred when an overflow gate on the city’s downtown sewer system got stuck open in August 2006.
For 15 days, the malfunction went undetected and untreated sewage – almost one billion litres, or about 350 Olympic-sized swimming pools’ worth – was pumped into the Ottawa River.
The Ministry of Environment requires such spills to be reported when they occur. But it wasn’t until May of the following year, after a city engineer noticed the incident mentioned in a report, that the province was notified.
The spill did not then come to the public’s attention until last May, when Orléans Councillor Bob Monette exposed the incident.
After Thursday’s plea, Mr. Huxley said the city is working with lawyers from the provincial environment ministry to finalize an agreed statement of facts and prepare submissions on sentencing.
Several more spills have since come to light, a product of the design of the older downtown sewers, which combine sanitary and storm water pipes.
Overflow gates are designed to open to relieve pressure on the system during heavy rainfalls.
According to Mayor Larry O’Brien, separating the two systems would cost around $600 million.
Last month, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty announced $77.2 million in new provincial infrastructure funding for Ottawa and encouraged the city to use the money to sort out the sewer mess.
And last week, federal Environment Minister John Baird pledged $13 million to the cause, increasing the federal contribution to $33 million, funds that will be matched by the city, for a grand total of $100 million to fix the system.
(C) Ottawa Citizen