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Though federal and municipal governments have each pledged $20 million to fix Ottawa’s overflowing sewer system, the provincial government said it would not make the same commitment yesterday.
A spokeswoman for provincial Energy and Infrastructure Minister George Smitherman wrote in an e-mail yesterday that the province is “aware that there is broad water/wastewater needs across the province,” but has to consider all the needs in a broader context.
Bay Councillor Alex Cullen said the city will not be able to fix its overburdened sewer system without provincial funding. Typically, the costs of major infrastructure projects are shared equally among the city, provincial, and federal governments.
“They are part of the problem, so they must be part of the solution,” he said, adding he was disappointed with the province.
“The Ministry of the Environment has regulations with respect to sewage overflows, they know of our circumstances and have been tolerating this for some time, but it can’t go on,” Mr. Cullen said.
A swath of the city’s core has combined sanitary and storm sewers. Under normal circumstances, the sewers carry their contents to the city sewage-treatment facility. But during heavy rains, the system is overwhelmed and the city pumps storm water and raw sewage into the Ottawa River through five pipes.
An overflow pipe near 24 Sussex Drive got stuck open during a large rainstorm on July 31, 2006, and it continued to dump raw sewage into the river until the problem was detected on Aug. 15. Water testing in the river at Petrie Island’s beach showed levels of dangerous E.coli bacteria shot up during this period.
The provincial, federal and municipal governments are investigating the spill.
According to the city’s public works department, the cost to separate the storm-water system from the sanitary water and sewer system would be $1 billion. However, a recent estimate on the cost of building a holding tank that could handle storm overflow is $100 million.
At the beginning of June, federal environment minister and Ottawa West-Nepean MP John Baird said he was committed to securing $20 million to help fix Ottawa’s sewers.
On Wednesday, city councillors voted unanimously to set aside $20 million in next year’s budget to prevent sewer overflows into the city’s water bodies as a match to Mr. Baird’s offer.
“This is not sustainable. We’re living proof because of the issues surrounding Petrie Island,” Mr. Cullen said. He added: “We simply cannot turn a blind eye to these kinds of issues.”
He said he expects Mr. Smitherman and provincial Environment Minister John Gerretsen to be “on the hot seat” about the city’s sewer problem when they come to Ottawa for the Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference in August.
(C) Ottawa Citizen