- CRD STUDY EXPLORES PIPING SEWAGE UNDER VICTORIA WATERWAYS
- SAANICH MAYOR HAILS BENEFITS OF SUSTAINABILITY
- OTTAWA ISN'T PROTECTING WHALES: JUDGE
- OTTAWA'S ENVIRONMENT STEWARDSHIP EARNS POOR MARKS
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Edward Hill
The Capital Region’s wastewater treatment committee has released a report that contemplates piping effluent under the mouth of Esquimalt Harbour, potentially as a part of an alternative sewage treatment plan.
The sub-marine pipeline study outlines cost estimates, routes and methods to pipe wastewater from Saxe Point in Esquimalt to the south end of the Coburg Peninsula in Colwood.
It also outlines options for tunneling and piping waste across Victoria Harbour between Ogden Point and McLoughlin Point, part of the CRD’s current planning.
The Royal Roads route, as the Colwood crossing is called, would cost anywhere from $70 million to $145 million, depending if a tunnel were drilled or a trench dredged in the sea floor.
Tunneling beneath Victoria harbour is estimated at $24 million and could save the $790-million wastewater project $17 million if horizontal directional drilling is used, according to the report.
Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins said she and other members of the wastewater committee pushed for the Royal Roads study to see if an alternative treatment plan was feasible for Colwood.
The sub-marine pipeline study indicates the lowest-cost option to pipe sewage to Colwood is still at least $44 million more than the existing plan.
Desjardins, who vocally opposes McLoughlin Point plan for a treatment plant site, said she will push to have CRD staff conduct a cost analysis between siting a plant in Esquimalt versus piping effluent to a plant in Colwood.
The pipeline report is encouraging, she said, and showed that moving effluent across Esquimalt Harbour is possible.
“There could be cost savings,” Desjardins said. “It makes the most sense siting (a treatment plant) in Colwood, now and in the future.”
Last year a consultant report recommended the CRD build a major treatment plant in Royal Bay, which was roundly rejected by Colwood council. Thousands of potential Royal Bay households could be built to take advantage of an energy recovery plant, Desjardins said.
Colwood Mayor Dave Saunders, who sits on the wastewater committee, said all options remain on the table, including piping wastewater to a treatment or energy recovery plant somewhere in Colwood.
There are at least five sites on the West Shore that could take a plant, including public land near Royal Bay, near city hall and West Shore Parks and Recreation. Saunders said Colwood is willing to look at any plant that will generate no noise, no odour and has amenities that benefit the community.
“Colwood is interested in looking at any innovation that makes the current CRD plan less expensive to citizens,” he said.
CRD wastewater committee chair Judy Brownoff said the piping report hasn’t changed anything – the project remains as a centralized sewage treatment plant at McLoughlin Point, storage tanks in Saanich and a biosolids facility at Hartland Landfill.
The committee needed to understand tunneling options across Victoria Harbour, she said, and decided to include Royal Roads waterway in the study.
Brownoff noted that the sub-marine piping report could be handy during the procurement stage of the wastewater treatment project.
“For anyone who applies at the procurement stage, this document highlights the challenges to overcome of pipes on the ocean floor,” she said. “The topography of the ocean floor is challenging in certain areas.”
Meanwhile, the CRD is still trying to find land closer to Esquimalt for the biosolids and energy capture facility, currently earmarked for Hartland. It is also waiting for the province to approve a governance model for wastewater treatment.
“We are also waiting for money from both levels of government,” Brownoff said. “Hopefully there is good news in the new year.”
editor@goldstreamgazette.com
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CFAX 1070
Dec 7, 2010
INCREASED SPENDING ON INFRASTRUCTURE ENSURES A LEGACY FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS. THAT FROM THE MAYOR OF SAANICH IN HIS INAUGURAL SPEECH TO COUNCIL AND THE PUBLIC LAST NIGHT.
MAYOR FRANK LEONARD SAYS SPENDING ON WATER, UTILITIES, ROADS AND BIKEWAYS IS A GENERATION TRANSFER ISSUE.
"WHEN WE INVEST IN INFRASTRUCTURE WE PROVIDE FUTURE GENERATIONS WITH AN ASSET RATHER THAN A LIABILITY," HE SAYS.
LEONARD SAYS SPENDING ON INFRASTRUCTURE FOR A SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY HAS INCREASED FROM $3.5 MILLION IN 1997 TO $17 MILLION IN 2010.
LEONARD ALSO ANNOUNCED THAT SAANICH WILL HIRE FIVE MORE FIREFIGHTERS IN THE COMING YEAR. HE SAYS THE LARGEST SINGLE SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY PROJECT WILL BE THE 3 MILLION DOLLAR COORDINATED ROAD, WATER, SEWER AND DRAINAGE IMPROVEMENTS TO TATTERSAL DRIVE.
Dec 7, 2010
INCREASED SPENDING ON INFRASTRUCTURE ENSURES A LEGACY FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS. THAT FROM THE MAYOR OF SAANICH IN HIS INAUGURAL SPEECH TO COUNCIL AND THE PUBLIC LAST NIGHT.
MAYOR FRANK LEONARD SAYS SPENDING ON WATER, UTILITIES, ROADS AND BIKEWAYS IS A GENERATION TRANSFER ISSUE.
"WHEN WE INVEST IN INFRASTRUCTURE WE PROVIDE FUTURE GENERATIONS WITH AN ASSET RATHER THAN A LIABILITY," HE SAYS.
LEONARD SAYS SPENDING ON INFRASTRUCTURE FOR A SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY HAS INCREASED FROM $3.5 MILLION IN 1997 TO $17 MILLION IN 2010.
LEONARD ALSO ANNOUNCED THAT SAANICH WILL HIRE FIVE MORE FIREFIGHTERS IN THE COMING YEAR. HE SAYS THE LARGEST SINGLE SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY PROJECT WILL BE THE 3 MILLION DOLLAR COORDINATED ROAD, WATER, SEWER AND DRAINAGE IMPROVEMENTS TO TATTERSAL DRIVE.
ARESST: With the recent judgement below, sewage plant activists may now try to link CRD outfalls with orca health, as they did in their SETAC submission. However, the judgement does not appear to say that sewage or waste water is an issue per se, but rather environmental, toxic or chemical and biological contamination.
OTTAWA ISN'T PROTECTING WHALES: JUDGE
Eco-activists hail it as landmark ruling; DFO changes expected
Judith Lavoie
Times Colonist
December 08, 2010
(letters@timescolonist.com)
The federal government has failed to adequately protect the habitat of endangered and threatened resident killer whales, a Federal Court judge ruled Tuesday.
Nine environmental groups, which took the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to court over habitat protection, celebrated the ruling as a landmark decision and predicted it will mean changes to fishing plans and ocean noise regulations.
Habitat for the whales includes the water around Vancouver Island and, as lack of salmon, pollution and noise have been identified as the main threats to killer whales, protection could affect fishing, whale watching, disposal of toxins and sewage, military sonar and seismic testing.
It will also affect how government deals with other species at risk, said Margot Venton, Ecojustice staff lawyer, who acted for the coalition of conservation groups.
"The court made a whole bunch of important decisions that, I think, are going to be important in shaping how DFO conducts itself with all sorts of other species," Venton said.
"This is a victory not just for the resident killer whales, but for the more than 90 other marine species listed under the federal Species at Risk Act," she said.
DFO needs to act quickly on protecting critical habitat because resident killer whales are in urgent need of help, Venton said.
Southern resident killer whales, of which there are 87 in three pods, are listed as endangered. The northern residents, with about 220 members, are listed as threatened.
DFO offered no specifics Tuesday on how it will comply with the ruling.
"The government is reviewing the decision of the Federal Court and determining its next steps," DFO spokeswoman Kirsten Ruecker said in an emailed statement.
Misty MacDuffee of Raincoast Conservation said considering whales in fishing plans is a first step.
"We have to start thinking of wildlife in our salmon-management plans, whether it's bears, wolves or killer whales," she said.
That would mean in years of low chinook salmon numbers the killer whales would have priority, MacDuffee said.
"This is where the rubber is going to hit the road because DFO doesn't actually want to give up fish to wildlife," she said.
The decision could also affect plans for oil supertankers in northern B.C. waters, said Stephanie Goodwin of Greenpeace.
Venton said there are policies dealing with ocean noise, but this could be a catalyst for stronger regulations, which might affect the whale watching industry.
Research from the University of Victoria's VENUS -- Victoria Experimental Network Under the Sea -- project released last week showed whales are having to yell over increasing noise from marine traffic.
The lawsuit was launched after the DFO decided in 2008 to legally protect critical habitat using voluntary guidelines and non-binding laws and policies.
Last year, the DFO issued a protection order for killer whale habitat that did not address water quality, food supply or noise pollution.
Federal Court Judge James Russell ruled that "the minister of fisheries and oceans erred in law in determining that the critical habitat of the resident killer whales was already legally protected by existing laws of Canada."
The judgment says voluntary protocols and guidelines do not legally protect critical habit.
Also, it was unlawful for government to exclude ecosystem features, such as availability of prey and acoustic and environmental factors, from the scope of the protection order, Russell ruled.
jlavoie@timescolonist.com
http://www2.canada.com/
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OTTAWA'S ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP EARNS POOR MARKS FROM COMMISSIONER
Report website - see Chapter 2, "Monitoring Water Resources" (only one mention of sewage/waste water):
As Canada prepares to make its case at a global climate-change summit in Mexico, a parliamentary watchdog is slamming the Harper government for failing to show leadership on environmental issues.
In an audit tabled Tuesday in the House of Commons, the commissioner of the environment and sustainable development said the government isn't taking action at home to combat climate change.
"These are serious findings," said commissioner Scott Vaughan. "We've noted to Parliament a number of important deficiencies."
Vaughan also declared that Canada isn't ready to respond to a major oil spill emanating from a tanker or other vessel.
His audit looked at Canada's readiness for a major oil spill from a tanker, such as the one unleashed by the Exxon Valdez off the coast of Alaska in 1989. Transport Canada is the lead regulatory agency in charge of preparing for such spills, while the Canadian Coast Guard would manage the federal response at the scene.
Under Canada's response regime, the company operating a tanker that causes an oil spill would be expected to lead the cleanup efforts. But Vaughan said this summer's massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico showed that such an approach can be perilous.
"The regime that we examined is based on the polluter pays principle, meaning that if the operator is responsible for the pollution, they are responsible for cleaning it up," said Vaughan.
"But ... if there's a major spill, we know that coast guard is going to have to intervene. And I think what you saw in the Gulf is that if there are major spills involved, the consequences can be catastrophic, and that's why we've said the Canadian government needs to be as ready as possible."
Vaughan found that risk assessments at both Transport Canada and the coast guard haven't been conducted in a consistent or systematic way.
"As a result, knowledge of risks in Canada to spills from ships, which is important for effective emergency planning, is not complete or up to date," the audit concluded.
Between 2007 and 2009, the coast guard responded to 4,160 incidents involving spills of oil, chemicals and other pollutants. Of those, roughly 2,000 cases involved vessels ranging from fishing boats to oil tankers.
Nevertheless, the coast guard hasn't carried out a comprehensive assessment of its response capacity since 2000, meaning it doesn't know how much equipment it should have.
