The public has a right to know every time raw sewage is leaked into the Ottawa River.
That’s according to Meredith Brown, the executive director of the Ottawa Riverkeeper, which is calling for a bill to enforce the public’s right to know.
“There should be mandatory reporting. Municipalities should tell the general public each and every time. I personally don’t swim in the river for 24 hours after a rainfall, that’s when all the crap goes in, and not just sewage, but storm water too,” Brown told the Sun.
“Let’s tell the people who are about to jump in the river. There are huge inconsistencies in reporting.”
The Ottawa Riverkeeper is a not-for-profit group with a mandate to protect the Ottawa River, the third waterkeeper program in Canada to be licensed by the international Waterkeeper Alliance.
GATE JAMMED
Recently, the public learned that back in 2006, 960,000 cubic metres of raw sewage had leaked into the river when a gate jammed. It wasn’t until last month the spill was made public.
Several investigations are now under way to figure out why the spill wasn’t properly reported.
Brown believes the general public was unaware that raw sewage or even storm water ever finds its way in the river untreated, but the news doesn’t shock her.
“It’s a lot of sewage, it’s terrible, but for me, it’s no surprise,” she said.
Tomorrow night, the Riverkeeper is holding its annual general meeting and the timing couldn’t be better. With a renewed interest on keeping the Ottawa River clean, Brown is expecting a full house.
As luck would have it, the Riverkeeper has been working on an in-depth report focusing on municipal sewage.
The good timing isn’t lost on Brown, who has been working on the report for some time now. She’s promising a “sneak preview” of the upcoming Ottawa River report.
FALLEN BETWEEN CRACKS
“The river has fallen between the cracks. It’s hard to get information and there’s no single agency in charge,” Brown said.
With more than 90 municipalities along a tributary or main stem of the Ottawa River the level of treatment is incredibly varied. In fact, some smaller municipalities only recently began treatment.
“We’ll be giving some of the more poignant discoveries we’ve made, some of the common problems. We’ll also be talking about a potential national strategy that the feds are unrolling. It’s going to be regulated under Fisheries Act. It’s not going to solve all of our problems, but it’s something.”
The public meeting is being held tomorrow night at the Ron Kolbus Lakeside Centre in Britannia Park at 7:30 p.m.
Brown and other members of the Ottawa Riverkeeper will be on hand to answer the public’s questions.
Ottawa Sun