Sewage discharges a major problem around Great Lakes;

[Spiel]

Sewage discharges a major problem around Great Lakes; Environmental groups says $5 billion to $10 billion is needed to fix the problem

 

May 21, 2008

DENIS LANGLOIS / owensoundsuntimes.com

 

 

A whopping 92 billion litres of raw or partially treated sewage is discharged into the Great Lakes each year in Canada, according to the head of a water protection coalition.

 

Derek Stack, executive director of Great Lakes United, said deficiencies in sewage collection systems, which lead to overflows and treatment system bypasses, are not unique to Owen Sound.

 

They are so prevalent the organization has pushed the problem to the top of its priority list.

 

"It's the next major issue to deal with. It's a problem. It's a major, major problem," Stack said in an interview Tuesday.

 

A Ministry of the Environment report included in last week's city council agenda says millions of litres of raw sewage can flow into Owen Sound bay when heavy rain or spring thaws push the city's waste water system beyond capacity.

 

The problem is mainly caused by combination sewage and storm water systems. During heavy rains, massive volumes of storm water pour into the collection system and is carried, along with raw sewage, to the waste water treatment plant. The volume is too high for the plant to process, leading to bypasses or overflows into the bay.

 

Owen Sound public works manager Mike Crone said bypasses can also be caused when groundwater infiltrates aging sections of the city's collection system. A program to separate the underground storm water and sewage systems has been ongoing since the city's primary treatment plant was built 36 years ago, Crone said, but could take another 30 to 40 years to complete.

 

The obstacle is money. The city separates the systems during road reconstruction projects, but Crone said only one or two blocks are completed each year.

 

Stack estimated fixing the sewage system infrastructure in the cities and towns along the Great Lakes would cost between $5 billion and $10 billion. The projects are too expensive for municipal budgets, he said, and most federal funding programs require municipalities to contribute one-third of a project's cost.

 

Coun. Peter Lemon said the city's main priority must be separating the two systems.

 

"We have to do it so we don't get these outflows," the veteran councillor said.

 

At one time all rainwater that fell in the city's downtown flowed to the waste water treatment plant. The city paid to separate the two systems during the $9-million Big Dig several years ago.

 

A project is now underway to direct runoff from downtown roofs into the storm water system. The city also installed an underground containment tank near the Pottawatomi River to store waste water during heavy rains and direct it to the treatment plant once capacity is available.

 

Another tank is being installed near the treatment plant.

 

The city also separated the two systems during the reconstruction of the 6th Street East hill and is doing so during the work on 2nd avenues east and west and 4th Street East.

 

"It's ongoing and it's really important, particularly given that we get as much rainfall as we seem to," Mayor Ruth Lovell said. "We're doing this on a methodical basis around the city until they're all done."