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The chairman of Ottawa’s planning and environment committee is fighting mad that Municipal Affairs Minister Jim Watson has “attacked” the city over its performance on sewage treatment on the eve of a major municipal conference in the city.
Councillor Peter Hume says Watson is wrong when he says the city lacks a plan to deal with sewage flowing into the Ottawa River. And Hume says he does not understand how the minister, who represents Ottawa and used to be mayor here, could have made the mistake.
“None of it is true. We’re being smeared,” said Hume, who is also president of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario. “It’s smearing the reputation of the City of Ottawa unfairly. It can’t go unanswered.
“He should really check the facts. They don’t support his statements in any form,” said Hume. “I was absolutely shocked.”
Hume was responding to a story in the Citizen on Friday in which Watson and federal Conservative MP Gordon O’Connor, the member for Carleton-Mississippi Mills, urged the city to clean up its sewage troubles.
“I just cringe when I hear about hundreds of millions of litres of raw sewage going into the Ottawa River flowing past the Parliament Buildings.
“I am anxious to see a plan on how we are going to deal with the problem head-on and an implementation timetable,” said Watson.
O’Connor expressed surprise at the city’s trouble in handling flooding in Kanata, where sewage back-ups ruined basements. The city has admitted that it was slow in responding to that crisis.
Sewage spills into the Ottawa River have become a top city issue in recent years partly because of old mechanical control systems and weak system monitoring. The city was fined $562,500 for failing to report to the provincial government a billion-litre sewage spill in 2006. During heavy rainstorms, mixed stormwater and sewage overflows into the river.
Watson said the problem had become such a health hazard he solicited the help of Ontario environment commissioner Gord Miller to help find a solution.
“I think all hands on deck should be dealing with the sewer situation, and, in my mind, it is one of the top priorities the city has to deal with,” Watson said. “I am hoping that Gord Miller is going to helpful, work with the city and offer some advice on how we can get behind another headline in the newspaper about raw sewage in the Ottawa River.”
But Hume pointed out Friday that the city this summer has developed a five-year $203-million plan to stop spills and greatly reduce the number of overflows during heavy storms. He noted that the Citizen had reported twice in June on what the city was doing to overhaul the sewage and stormwater systems. He said Watson’s own government contributed $33 million to that plan.
“You really expect better from the minister of municipal affairs,” Hume said.
The city’s plan stemmed from a review of pollution in the river that mapped out exactly how the Ottawa, and the pollutants from Ottawa and Gatineau, flow through the region.
The plan includes new control systems, better monitoring, some separation of mixed storm and sanitary sewers and construction of stormwater facilities. Most importantly, however, the city’s engineers and consultants concluded that some large tanks are needed to hold stormwater, a project that is estimated to cost $45 million but should be completed by the fall of 2013.
By going with a storage-tank solution, the city avoids having to separate sanitary and storm sewers in all city neighbourhoods, a task that could have cost $2 billion. Storing stormwater until storms are over also ensures that polluted stormwater is treated at the Pickard treatment plant in Gloucester before being released into the Ottawa.
Hume said Watson’s criticism erodes public confidence and is demoralizing to city staff and elected officials who have worked long hours in the last couple of years to make a plan. Hume said the city’s pollution-control work will be some of the most advanced in Canada and Watson should highlight it as an example of what cities can do.
“He doesn’t need to offer us advice. We’re way ahead of him,” said Hume, who worked with Watson in the 1990s while the two served on the former Ottawa council.
Watson said Friday afternoon that he was aware of the city’s latest report on its plans for the sewer-system upgrades but was just expressing how citizens are “very frustrated with the pace of progress.”
“It’s clear the problem is getting worse,” said Watson, who said much of the spending in the city’s plan is scheduled for after 2010.
“I’m just expressing the frustration of a lot of my constituents. I’d just like to see the process sped up.”
Kanata North Councillor Marianne Wilkinson said that the City of Ottawa has made progress on its sewer system and knows that many millions more must yet be spent. She said Ottawa has been unfairly getting bad press on this issue when many other municipalities across Canada elude scrutiny.
Mayor Larry O’Brien was unavailable to reporters Friday.
Ottawa hosts the annual conference of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, which brings together leaders from all municipalities except Toronto. The conference, which begins Aug. 16, features Premier Dalton McGuinty as a speaker.
Watson is a key figure at the convention, as elected officials lobby for changes to laws and regulations, reductions in red tape and financial help.