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One city councillor says the city should have informed the public through the media about last weekend’s sewage spill into the Ottawa River.
Kitchissippi Coun. Christine Leadman said the city acted quickly when it discovered a mechanical sewer regulator jammed, causing an undetermined volume of sewage to flow into the river. But she says it should have just as quickly notified media outlets to spread the word to the public.
“It would appear to be a natural step in the process if you want to have the word out to the public at large,” said Leadman.
Last Saturday morning, city workers discovered the Booth St. regulator, which flows into the river behind the Supreme Court of Canada, was jammed with debris after a rainfall. Within 10 minutes, the provincial Ministry of the Environment was notified and by 11:30 a.m. the problem was fixed.
The city should know later this week how much untreated raw sewage flowed into the river.
City of Ottawa Public Affairs spokesman Michael Fitzpatrick said alerting the media of such a spill is not part of the city’s new reporting protocol. However, Fitzpatrick told the Sun that the city is always looking at ways of improving communication with the public.
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The department will consult with the city’s medical officer of health and other senior officials to determine if there is value in immediately alerting the media of such issues.
The city posts daily updates on the water quality of city beaches on its website, and places no-swimming flags and signs at beaches affected by high levels of E. coli.
Leadman said the added information would help the public make the choice about whether to swim.
“People are more engaged today, especially on environmental issues and especially on this issue,” she said.
The city updated its reporting protocol recently after it learned one billion litres of raw sewage spilled into the Ottawa River two years ago.
Under the new protocol, when a spill is detected, the city immediately informs the appropriate authorities and sends city councillors sewer outflow reports after every rainfall. It also now manually inspects all five regulators, installed in the late 1950s, across the city after every rainfall.
(C) Ottawa Sun