- VICTORIA SEWAGE DEBATE VIDEOS - COMPLETE SET NOW UPLOADED
- CAPE BRETON LEADERS DEFY SEWAGE RULES
- WHO SHOULD PAY FOR NEW SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANTS?
- WHO WILL PAY FOR CLEANING UP CANADA'S RAW SEWAGE?
------------------------------
ARESST: Excerpts from news below:
Proposed sewage treatment and LRT projects involve a combined cost of more than $2 billion, with at least one-third of that to come from local taxpayers...If the case is made for LRT, that should also lead to a re-examination of the timing for the introduction of sewage treatment. The project is controversial. A 2006 scientific panel report made a credible case for treatment, reporting seabed contamination at the two offshore waste outfalls; warning that the sewage plume that rises to the surface on occasion is a health risk to anyone who contacts it; and noting the waste poses an environmental threat. The province ordered treatment and insisted on speedy action.
But now the provincial government's sense of urgency is fading, with no commitment to a funding timeline. If LRT wins support and funding, it might be wise to delay sewage treatment plans, phasing in the costs over a longer period and allowing time for new, more efficient treatment technologies to emerge.
But now the provincial government's sense of urgency is fading, with no commitment to a funding timeline. If LRT wins support and funding, it might be wise to delay sewage treatment plans, phasing in the costs over a longer period and allowing time for new, more efficient treatment technologies to emerge.
COUNCILS FACE REGIONAL ISSUES (sewage treatment a major focus)
Commentary
Times Colonist
November 20, 2011
Click here to send letter to editor
Newly elected municipal councils face lots of local issues. But they should all soon turn their attention to critical regional issues that will affect the way we live and the taxes we pay.
This election will bring changes to decision-making in the region. Of the 13 Capital Regional District municipalities, four have new mayors and Victoria sent different council members to the CRD board. These people will bring fresh ideas and new ways of looking at issues.
Two areas for immediate attention are obvious. Proposed sewage treatment and LRT projects involve a combined cost of more than $2 billion, with at least one-third of that to come from local taxpayers.
It's time to move toward a decision on LRT. More than $3 million has been spent on studies to date, yet there has been insufficient data on costs, ridership and benefits to win support. A promised review of B.C. Transit's role could lead to greater clarity and accountability.
But in the meantime, councils need to push for the information needed to make a decision, one way or the other.
If the case is made for LRT, that should also lead to a re-examination of the timing for the introduction of sewage treatment. The project is controversial. A 2006 scientific panel report made a credible case for treatment, reporting seabed contamination at the two offshore waste outfalls; warning that the sewage plume that rises to the surface on occasion is a health risk to anyone who contacts it; and noting the waste poses an environmental threat. The province ordered treatment and insisted on speedy action.
But now the provincial government's sense of urgency is fading, with no commitment to a funding timeline. If LRT wins support and funding, it might be wise to delay sewage treatment plans, phasing in the costs over a longer period and allowing time for new, more efficient treatment technologies to emerge.
Ideally, the review of B.C. Transit will also lead to a regional transportation authority to deal with transit, roads and all aspects of moving people around.
Even if it doesn't, councils must work together to agree on a shared set of priorities. Money that has been spent on less-useful projects like the Spencer and McTavish interchanges could have been used much more effectively if applied to regional priorities.
Policing should also receive attention. The current fractured system does not serve the public interest. It will take political leadership to push for more regional units, increased co-operation and common approaches to communications and other issues.
Broadly, councils should be looking to co-operate in any way possible. Perhaps neighbours could develop a common development permit system or a shared economic development plan. Or, as Saanich and Victoria did this year, council could hold occasional joint meetings. Mayors could meet regularly as a group, not to supplant the Capital Regional District board, but to increase co-operation and understanding.
We function - or not - as a region. Councils can play a great role in increasing effective co-operation - and this election could bring a fresh start.
http://www2.canada.com/
------------------------------
VICTORIA SEWAGE DEBATE VIDEOS - THE COMPLETE SET NOW UPLOADED
Victoria Sewage Debate November 16/11 (1):
Victoria Sewage Debate November 16/11 (2):
Victoria Sewage Debate November 16/11 (3):
Victoria Sewage Debate November 16/11 (4):
------------------------------
CAPE BRETON LEADERS DEFY SEWAGE RULES
Regional municipality braces for repercussions of refusal to comply
CBC News
Nov 21, 2011
The Cape Breton Regional Municipality continues to defy a federal mandate requiring hundreds of millions of dollars in upgrades to the way it handles sewage.
Nova Scotia's second-largest municipality says it doesn't have the money to do the work. It's standing by an earlier decision not to proceed with the required projects.
"The wastewater strategy was, I think, a dream of some political bureaucrat in an office in Ottawa some place," said Gordon MacLeod, a councillor for North Sydney.
The sewage treatment plant in Sydney was built six years ago at a cost of $10 million. Millions of litres of sewage flow into it every day.
The plant is already outdated under the federal government's latest wastewater regulations. In addition, the CBRM is required to build eight more sewage treatment plants by 2021, which would cost approximately $425 million.
For communities like North Sydney, it would mean no more raw sewage flushed straight into the harbour. MacLeod says he would love to see that, but not at such a high cost to taxpayers.
Mayor John Morgan calls it a "great struggle," given the municipality is carrying a $100-million debt and coping with high unemployment and a shrinking population.
The Nova Scotia government has already warned council not to borrow any more money.
"If you could facilitate the borrowing, which we can't, it in itself would trigger monumental increases in tax rates by approximately 66 per cent, and you'd be doing that in one of the poorest areas of the country," Morgan said.
Refusing to comply
In May, Cape Breton regional council said it wouldn't spend money on any of the necessary planning or studies for the new regulations until there's a clear funding formula in place.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans sent the CBRM a letter warning that defying the regulations could mean hefty fines or even imprisonment.
Council is bracing for the repercussions, though MacLeod isn't too worried. He said he shouldn't be prosecuted for doing his job to protect taxpayers from a lofty but unrealistic plan.
"Look, we're just standing up and we're saying we're not going to do that anymore," he said.
The Federation of Canadian Municipalities says many small communities across the country are struggling with the wastewater requirements. It wants a funding mechanism in place to help them.
COMMENTS (currently 30):
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/
------------------------------
WHO SHOULD PAY FOR NEW SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANTS?
CBC
November 21,2011
New federal regulations will force municipalities to pay for new sewage treatment plants, to be built in coming decades, even though some municipalities are too small to afford them.
One of the 23 effluent outlets in St. Anthony, N.L., that pours raw sewage into the bay. (CBC)Environment Canada expects to finalize Wastewater Systems Effluent the end of the year. They mandate nearly $6 billion in upgrades at nearly 1,000 plants over the next 30 years, the federal government estimates.
But the Federation of Canadian Municipalities says the cost could be much higher. "Municipalities are already overburdened with a significant infrastructure deficit in this country," said FCM President Berry Vrbanovic. "So any additional regulations are only going to further see that problem grow."
Since water treatment is a municipal responsibility, some towns are worried that they'll have to pay the entire bill, leaving no money for anything else.
Who should pay for new sewage treatment plants? Is it up to the municipalities alone, or should senior levels of government foot the bill? Let us know in the comments below.
COMMENTS (currently 8):
------------------------------
WHO WILL PAY FOR CLEANING UP CANADA'S RAW SEWAGE
New federal regulations are forcing a new cost on small municipalities
Max Paris
CBC News
Nov 21, 2011
In St. Anthony, they call the flow from their 23 outfalls "bubbles." That's really just a friendly Newfoundland way of saying raw sewage.
The town of 2,700, at the very northern tip of Newfoundland, really wants to stop pumping sewage into its bustling harbour. Unfortunately, it can't afford the $15 million it will cost to do the job.
Regardless, the federal government says St. Anthony falls in the high risk category for sewage treatment and is going to have to build a primary and secondary treatment plant by 2020.
If that's not done, this main service centre on Newfoundland's Northern Peninsula is going to be in contravention of Environment Canada's Wastewater Systems Effluent Regulations, which are expected to be finalized by the end of this year.
"How can you go in and put in infrastructure that you can't pay for," asks Mayor Ernest Simms. "We can't do it with the funding that's here now."
Therein lies the crux of the problem for hundreds of towns across Canada that find themselves in the same position as St. Anthony. They want to clean their wastewater but they need help from senior levels of government to do it.
The problem is particularly acute for smaller communities such as St. Anthony. They have a small tax base to begin with and, in many cases, a declining and aging population.
"Municipalities are already overburdened with a significant infrastructure deficit in this country. So any additional regulations are only going to further see that problem grow," argues Berry Vrbanovic, the president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.
Vrbanovic agrees that the smaller members of the FCM are in a particularly tough spot.
"They have to have special consideration because otherwise those communities are not going to be able to meet their broader obligations," he says.
St. Anthony offers a perfect example. As Mayor Simms observes, the town already spends anywhere from 25 to 40 per cent of its $2 million annual budget on drinking water.
Add in the cost of wastewater treatment and the community won't have money for anything else — nothing for roads, nothing for the arena, nothing for parks.
The Wastewater Systems Effluent Regulations were designed by Environment Canada in close consultation the FCM.
The federal department wants to put towns and cities into three categories of risk when it comes to their wastewater systems — high, medium and low — meaning they have to be following the rules by 2020, 2030 and 2040 respectively.
Environment Canada can give these municipalities time to come into compliance but much of the money will have to come from Infrastructure Canada and the provinces.
Environment Canada estimates the total cost for upgrades across the country at nearly $6 billion. But the FCM thinks it will be significantly more.
"Working in partnership with provinces, territories and municipalities, our government has made significant commitments to funding wastewater infrastructure, and will continue to do so in the future," Denis Lebel, the federal minister in charge of infrastructure, told CBC News in a written statement.
FCM and Infrastructure Canada consider the wastewater issue a detail in the negotiations about a long-term Canadian infrastructure plan that includes everything from roads to drinking water.
But it is more than just a detail to Simms and the people of St. Anthony.
It's a bad smell at low tide in the summer. It's used toilet paper on the edges of the harbour. And it's a potentially bankrupting financial nightmare.
Without help from Ottawa, adds Simms, "we can't do it. We simply can't do it."
COMMENTS (currently 342):
------------------------------
END.
