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A faulty sewer gate is to blame for pouring massive amounts of untreated human poo into the Ottawa River that settled along Petrie Island beach two years ago.
However, the problem wasn’t brought to council’s attention until last week when Orleans Coun. Bob Monette took a tour of the Robert O. Pickard Environmental Centre and a city employee made an offhand remark about the jammed gate causing 960,000 cubic metres of human fecal matter to be poured into the Ottawa River, some of it eventually settling 10 km downstream at the beach.
Dixon Weir, the city’s director of water and wastewater service, said yesterday the city first became aware of the problem on Aug. 15, 2006, when they conducted a routine monthly inspection of the overflow pipe system at the intersection of River Lane and Keefer St. The accident was reported to the provincial Ministry of Environment a few days later.
Weir, who didn’t lead the city branch at the time, wasn’t aware of the incident until last month and has since taken steps to ensure that if it happens again, staff will tell senior members of city staff.
“We recognize that as a shortfall,” said Weir.
HEAVY RAINFALL
The collection system was built in the 1960s and is designed to dilute sewage to safe enough levels that it can be dumped into the river.
Cumberland Coun. Rob Jellett said he was disappointed when he learned the jammed gate was permitting human waste to be poured into the river and no one detected it—and when they did, no one said anything.
He also can’t understand why it took so long to make the connection between the malfunction of the gate and the increase in the amount of human fecal matter found on the beach.
“Why did it take two years to find this out?” asked Jellett. “We went through two years of negative press and health studies that we didn’t necessarily have to.
“It doesn’t take a huge leap in logic that council should have known.”
But Jellett is confident that it won’t happen again. He said there is now full monitoring of the gate and communications is improving.
The popular east-end beach was closed more than 40 times in the summer of 2006 compared to only six last year and the city has determined that the dates of the August 2006 event coincided with the unusual number of beach closures at Petrie Island.
HEAVILY CONTAMINATED
However, as reported in the Sun in March, a study by Environment Canada at Petrie Island Beach and nearby waters between May and October 2007 showed the water and sand at Petrie was still heavily contaminated with human fecal matter and that the beach sand was “serving as a reservoir for E. coli.”
Innes Coun. Rainer Bloess said the beach is a jewel in the east end that’s been tarnished.
“It’s a great place and we need to build up the reputation of Petrie Island,” he said
Ottawa Sun