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A faulty sewer gate is to blame for pouring massive amounts of untreated human poo into the Ottawa River and soiling Petrie Island beach in 2006, a city report says.
The city’s director of Water and Wastewater Service and three east end councillors will explain the cause of the malfunction and what the city is doing to make sure a similar situation doesn’t occur again.
The gate, located near the Prime Minister’s residence at 24 Sussex Dr, was left open from Aug. 1, 2006 to Aug. 15. 2006.
The popular east end beach was closed more than 40 times in the summer of 2006 compared to only six last a year later.
Cumberland Coun. Rob Jellett said he was infuriated when he learned the gate was pouring human waste into the river and no one detected it.
He not only blames the malfunction of the gate but the city’s network of internal communications. He 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 year to find this out,” said Jellett. “We went through two years of negative press and health studies that we didn’t necessarily have to.”
But Jellett is confident it won’t happen again. He said there is now full monitoring of the gate and communications is improving.
However, as reported in the Sun last March a study by Environment Canada at Petrie Island Beach and nearby waters between May and October 2007 shows the water and sand at Petrie was heavily contaminated with human fecal matter.
The sands and swimming water along the beach also contain a high level of bird and waterfowl droppings and that the beach sand is “serving as a reservoir for E. coli.”
“Observation of floatables on the beach at times, was indicative of the impacts of human fecal pollution,” the study says. “E. coli concentrations at Petrie Island Beach were higher in the sand than in the adjacent beach water, and they increased in the sand and beach water over the course of the bathing season.”
Environment Canada took water samples at ankle and chest depths each month during the testing period and contaminated water was discovered each time.
Ottawa Sun