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An independent investigator will be appointed next week to get to the bottom of the 960,000 cubic metres of raw sewage dumped into the Ottawa River in August 2006.
Mayor Larry O’Brien, with the city’s three east-end councillors, said yesterday an outsider will be hired by Wednesday to dispel any public perceptions of a coverup.
Council will need to approve the move, but O’Brien said there will be enough support to proceed with the investigation.
“The impacts are so broad, we want to ensure the citizens of Ottawa have a comfortable feeling that all actions are being taken,” he said. “We need an independent review of all of the facts, including environmental impacts and legal issues in order to regain the public’s trust.”
O’Brien and councillors Rainer Bloess, Bob Monette and Rob Jellett said public confidence in the city has been jeopardized because of a perceived coverup.
“We want to make sure there isn’t a coverup,” said Bloess. “I don’t think there was, but the public is not convinced.”
Bloess said he was unaware of the spill until earlier this week.
FILL SCOTIABANK PLACE
The immense volume of raw, untreated human waste was enough to more than fill Scotiabank Place.
The day before, city manager Kent Kirkpatrick said an internal investigation is being conducted into how the city managed the spill and who knew about it being dumped into the Ottawa River after a sewer gate jammed and remained opened for two weeks.
He also wants to know why the incident wasn’t reported to senior members of staff, council and the public health branch.
Kirkpatrick said he only learned of the incident late last week.
Unlike Kirkpatrick, O’Brien said he hasn’t ruled out the possibility that someone could be fired over the issue.
Coun. Monette was the first city councillor to learn of the incident two weeks ago after an off-the-cuff remark from a city worker who was giving Monette a tour of the R. O. Pickard Environmental Centre where sewage is treated.
Earlier this spring, the Sun published news reports about the high levels of human waste detected at Petrie Island after beach waters were tested during the summer of 2006. During that swimming season the beach was closed for more than 40 days because of high E. coli levels.
The 2007 city beach report released in March said Environment Canada also conducted tests between May and October 2007, a year after the sewage spill, and still detected “floatables” in the water and human excrement in the sand.
Even after the release of the results of the latest beach report, Monette said the waters around Petrie Island are as safe as any other city beach.
Ottawa Sun