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This city’s recurring bouts of sewage overflows into the Ottawa River are worrying Ontario environmental commissioner Gordon Miller.
He said Friday he will be in Ottawa early next month to consult with staff and offer help on how to fix sewage flows into the Ottawa River.
He has become involved in the matter at the request of MPP Jim Watson. Watson told the Citizen earlier in the week that the problem had become such a health hazard he solicited Miller to help find a solution.
“I think all hands on deck should be dealing with the sewer situation, and, in my mind, it is one of the top priorities the city has to deal with,” Watson said.
Miller said that since Watson spoke to him about his concerns, his staff have been assessing the problem in Ottawa, analysing information and ideas on what to do.
“I haven’t actually talked to the city, but I have my staff researching the background and I will be coming to Ottawa and hopefully, look at the options, draw on the experience of other cities and offer what assistance I can,” he said.
Miller, who is on vacation, said older cities like Ottawa, Kingston and Toronto, which have combined sewers that were installed decades ago, seem to have problems with sewer overflow time and again. What’s worrying is that the problem in the nation’s capital seems to be a recurring one.
“We do have, especially in the Ottawa area, an increased frequency of unusual storm events,” he said.
Miller said Kingston, which had serious sewer overflow problems, just completed a multi-year program to address the issue by installing holding tanks to store the overflow and then treat it when space becomes available in the sewer plant.
Miller’s reception from city officials could be frosty as Watson’s comments have stirred up angry reactions from some at City Hall.
Councillor Peter Hume says Watson is wrong when he says the city lacks a plan to deal with sewage flowing into the river. And Hume says he does not understand how the minister, who represents Ottawa and used to be mayor here, could have made the mistake.
“None of it is true. We’re being smeared,” Hume, who is also president of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, told the Citizen.
“He should really check the facts. They don’t support his statements in any form.”
Sewage spills into the Ottawa River have become a top city issue in recent years partly because of old mechanical control systems and weak system monitoring. The city was fined $562,500 for failing to report to the provincial government a billion-litre sewage spill in 2006. During heavy rainstorms, mixed stormwater and sewage overflows into the river.
Hume pointed out Friday that the city this summer has developed a five-year, $203-million plan to stop spills and greatly reduce the number of overflows during heavy storms.
The plan includes new control systems, better monitoring, some separation of mixed storm and sanitary sewers and construction of stormwater facilities. Most importantly, however, the city’s engineers and consultants concluded that some large tanks are needed to hold stormwater, a project that is estimated to cost $45 million, but should be completed by the fall of 2013.