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By Alain Piche
This year will be a challenging one for the Gatineau River and those who enjoy its waters. The MRC des Collines is pressing ahead with a plan to build a septage, a septic tank sludge treatment centre.
The construction of the plant has the potential to change Gatineau River water quality significantly for generations to come. The MRC has announced that it will reveal the location two potential sites for the plant this month. Speculation is that the sites are up river from Wakefield.
The debate started in 2009, when two sites on the Gatineau were “announced” in a resolution of the La Peche council. The resulting public response by Friends Of The Gatineau, EcoLaPeche and local citizens achieved reconsideration.
The MRC agreed to amend their contract with CIMA+, the chosen engineering company, and to undertake an assessment of technology, site-selection criteria and a public consultation process.
Consultation has been frustrating. A consultation committee announced early in the process, of which I am a member, has met twice, with little meaningful discussion. Proposed changes to federal regulations for the treatment of effluent will upgrade standards.
The technology which the MRC has elected to use meets current standards, but not the proposed new standards. Numerous concerns about site-selection criteria have been dismissed and questions remain unanswered.
We recognize the need to develop a solution to local waste management and the treatment noxious effluent that is environmentally appropriate. But we need to get this decision right and ensure that all options and the best technology available are used. There has been a minimum of public debate, yet we will live with the consequences of this decision for many years.
The choice of the site for the plant has been subject to a study by CIMA+, which did the engineering of a similar plant in Kazabazua in 2005. The Kazabazua plant struggles to meet current standards for phosphate emissions. CIMA+ has recommended use of the same technology again.
One option that emerged in 2010 was the possible use of the existing waste water treatment system of the former Smurfit Stone paper plant located in the Pontiac, on the Ottawa River. A new owner has received federal funding to redevelop the site, making use of an existing facility an option.
Although representing more transport costs, this site offers cost benefits in construction and allows for the recycling of an existing industrial site, rather than the potential degradation of the Gatineau River water quality. No information has been shared on the assessment of this option.
We are not suggesting that there are easy answers. Elected officials have the responsibility to make the decision that result in the best, most ecologically responsible outcomes. That means using the best available technology, as well as objective criteria in site selection.
This is an issue that will affect the Gatineau and our communities, clubs, tourist industry and quality of life for the future. I encourage all interested residents to attend the public meetings – which the MRC has committed to holding – to discuss their decisions on site selection. Watch for the promised announcement.
Alain Piche is president of FOG/AGR, the Friends Of The Gatineau River/Amies de la riviere Gatineau
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