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ACTION:
UPCOMING:
- INFO & RALLY SIGN MAKING TODAY!! RALLY & MARCH ACROSS TRESTLE TOMORROW
- CRD OPEN HOUSE IN VIC WEST 27 JUNE
- CRD SLUDGE PLANT OPEN HOUSE LIST
** YOUR ACTION - SEND IN CRD SLUDGE SURVEY FORM!!
PAST:
- AUDIO AND VIDEO OF ACTIONS BY SABP AND ALLIES
CRD SEWAGE NEWS
- AUDIO AND VIDEO OF EVENTS AND COMMENTARY (extensive!)
- MCLOUGHLIN REZONING APPLICATION CONTAINS NEW INFORMATION
- VIEWFIELD NEIGHBOURS PLAN PROTEST OF CRD PROPOSAL
- ESQUIMALT BIKE-LANE UPGRADES PERFUME SEWAGE-PLANT PROPOSAL
LETTERS
Improve sewage project so it will last 100 years (Ferri)
Demand more red tape for sewage plans (Newcomb)
PUT THE SEWAGE PLANT ABOARD A LARGE SHIP (Carr)
VALUE OF CHILDREN'S LIVES PART OF SEWAGE PROPOSAL (Glegg)
Site for sludge plant should be simple choice (Semmens)
VALUE OF CHILDREN'S LIVES PART OF SEWAGE PROPOSAL (Glegg)
COUNCILLORS MUST INTERJECT IN SEWAGE PLANT DISCUSSION (Brown)
SLUDGE PLANT WOULD ELIMINATE JOBS, TAXES (Bilodeau)
- SEND IN YOUR LETTERS!
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ACTION:
UPCOMING:
INFO & RALLY SIGN MAKING TODAY!! RALLY & MARCH ACROSS TRESTLE TOMORROW
CRD OPEN HOUSE IN VIC WEST 27 JUNE
CRD sewage committee CALWMC meets 27 June, has Chair's remarks then goes in-camera:
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** YOUR ACTION - SEND IN CRD SLUDGE SURVEY FORM!!
Biosolids Energy Centre Site Selection Feedback Form:
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PAST:
CRD Committee of the Whole minutes of 5 June includes SABP member presentations:
CRD sewage COMMISSION minutes of 30 May includes SABP member presentations:
AUDIO AND VIDEO OF ACTIONS
CTV clip from tonight June 20, 2013.
Stephen Andrew interviews Janet Riddell and Warren Walsh who earned a huge victory for our side by forcing the CRD to pull its misleading information on Kelowna from the open houses and the CRD website.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
We heard Judy Brownoff state in a previous interview she did not know what kind of treatment at the Kelowna site was depicted in the photos. Susan Brice didn't catch it either.
There is a VERY good chance that the decision to go with Viewfield was based on staff recommendations using the Kelowna facility as an example. Because this process was done in camera, we will never know.
If this is indeed the case, this is a $17m blunder on behalf of the CRD Directors who sit the Core Area Liquid Waste Management Committee (CALWMC) that voted to purchase Viewfield.
Stephen Andrew interviews Janet Riddell and Warren Walsh who earned a huge victory for our side by forcing the CRD to pull its misleading information on Kelowna from the open houses and the CRD website.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
We heard Judy Brownoff state in a previous interview she did not know what kind of treatment at the Kelowna site was depicted in the photos. Susan Brice didn't catch it either.
There is a VERY good chance that the decision to go with Viewfield was based on staff recommendations using the Kelowna facility as an example. Because this process was done in camera, we will never know.
If this is indeed the case, this is a $17m blunder on behalf of the CRD Directors who sit the Core Area Liquid Waste Management Committee (CALWMC) that voted to purchase Viewfield.
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June 18, 2013 CHEK interview with Meagan Klassen and Ron Merk from the Lyall Street Action Committee on CHEK:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Kim Bellefontaine today 17 June:
http://www.cbc.ca/ontheisland/
http://www.cbc.ca/ontheisland/
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CTV's Stephen Andrew interviews Warren Walsh and residents of Viewfield and Carole Witter from Sewage Treatment Action Group. http://youtu.be/lLyV-fMLQjQ
Bryan Gilbert speaks about climate change and Amendment No.9 and the Technical and Community Advisory Committee (TCAC). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4Viu6FmNCY&hd=1
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June 18, 2013 CHEK interview with Meagan Klassen and Ron Merk on CHEK: http://youtu.be/PQ-XjOvqbB0
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June 18, 2013 CHEK interview with Meagan Klassen and Ron Merk on CHEK: http://youtu.be/PQ-XjOvqbB0
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CRD SEWAGE NEWS
AUDIO AND VIDEO OF EVENTS AND COMMENTARY (extensive!)
CRD Director Barb Desjardins reads a letter from a former Technical and Community Advisory Committee (TCAC) member who declined to sit on the upcoming panel citing problems with the original process.
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CRD Director Vic Derman shares his disappointment regarding the former TCAC committee that resided (or perhaps didn't reside) over the CRD Core Area Liquid Waste Management Committee (CALWMC) Liquid Waste Management Plan (LWMP) Amendment No.8.
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Judy Brownoff on CFAX with Stephen Andrew on Tue June 18, 2013:
http://stopabadplan.ca/media130617_CFAX_Judy_Brownoff.m4a
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Mayor Barb Desjardins on CFAX this morning 18 June with Al Ferraby:
http://stopabadplan.ca/media/
http://stopabadplan.ca/media/
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June 18,CHEK visits the Biosolids Open House at the Esquimalt Legion and interview with Denise Blackwell:
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Esquimalt Councillor Dave Hodgins was on CFAX with Terry Moore yesterday 18 June and it was a very lively exchange:
http://stopabadplan.ca/media/
http://stopabadplan.ca/media/
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Here's Vic Derman on CFAX today 20 June in case you missed it:
http://stopabadplan.ca/media/
http://stopabadplan.ca/media/
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Richard says:
Why am I going around the open houses with an audio recorder? To capture golden moments like this:
http://stopabadplan.ca/media/
This couple came from Kelowna. They know all about sewage treatment in their backyard; the husband was more than familiar with sewage technologies and listening to this has doubled my resolve to save Viewfield.
If this goes through, we are going to have a revolution come November 2014.
http://stopabadplan.ca/media/
This couple came from Kelowna. They know all about sewage treatment in their backyard; the husband was more than familiar with sewage technologies and listening to this has doubled my resolve to save Viewfield.
If this goes through, we are going to have a revolution come November 2014.
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June 12, 2013 CRD Video:
CRD Director Graham Hill (Mayor of View Royal) speaks about the value of Dockside Green to the CRD and the lost opportunities if the CRD goes further with its sewage plan.
Director Hill also gives his thoughts on the previous Technical and Community Advisory Community that advised the Core Area Liquid Waste Management Committee (CALWMC).
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Frank Leonard was on CFAX this morning with Stephen Andrew:
http://stopabadplan.ca/media/
1. Frank thinks we should be grateful for 2/3rd funding (to build a plant with a limited or negligible environmental improvement, thanks Frank.)
2. Fails to mention that other cities on Primary Treatment have until 2030 to meet regulations and that will give them 17 years to secure some provincial and federal funding.
3. On the topic of Hartland vs. Viewfield, claims to be "open minded" and will be weighing all the opinions at a council meeting to rezone Hartland.
Surely, at this point, if the CRD chose Hartland and the Saanich community was completely against the rezoning, what's Frank going to do? Listen to residents or continue to claim we have 2/3rd funding that it is risk as he just stated?
Of course, Frank refuses to sit at the sewage committee table and so he's passed his vote on Viewfield vs. Hartland to Vicki Saunders. Why isn't he listening to residents NOW and putting that to a vote at the sewage committee table? How ironic that we always hear Vicki during the election campaign say, "Don't be a chicken, vote Saunders".
Frank hasn't sat at the sewage table for over 3 years now and now it the most critical phase of the project. Inexcusable and the same for Stu Young and lately Nils Jensen.
4. He suggests that people should suggest how to reach out to the community better. Recognizes that it's even harder to do in July when people are on vacation but the Open Houses will be over by June 27. Huh?
5. Claims if we "drag this out" it will give the Feds a reason to pull their money out. No one has stated a limit on the funding deadlines. They are still imaginary.
Finally, on the topic of the CRD refusing to engage the public on Viewfield during the election...
6. Surprised that MLA candidates were weighing in on sewage treatment during the election as Frank found it confusing and he thinks that voters would have been confused also.
Now that the ministers have been selected, consultation can go ahead. OMG.
Hey Frank! There's still no open mic at Saanich Council meetings. That speaks the loudest about your commitment to hear from residents to hear their concerns.
http://stopabadplan.ca/media/
1. Frank thinks we should be grateful for 2/3rd funding (to build a plant with a limited or negligible environmental improvement, thanks Frank.)
2. Fails to mention that other cities on Primary Treatment have until 2030 to meet regulations and that will give them 17 years to secure some provincial and federal funding.
3. On the topic of Hartland vs. Viewfield, claims to be "open minded" and will be weighing all the opinions at a council meeting to rezone Hartland.
Surely, at this point, if the CRD chose Hartland and the Saanich community was completely against the rezoning, what's Frank going to do? Listen to residents or continue to claim we have 2/3rd funding that it is risk as he just stated?
Of course, Frank refuses to sit at the sewage committee table and so he's passed his vote on Viewfield vs. Hartland to Vicki Saunders. Why isn't he listening to residents NOW and putting that to a vote at the sewage committee table? How ironic that we always hear Vicki during the election campaign say, "Don't be a chicken, vote Saunders".
Frank hasn't sat at the sewage table for over 3 years now and now it the most critical phase of the project. Inexcusable and the same for Stu Young and lately Nils Jensen.
4. He suggests that people should suggest how to reach out to the community better. Recognizes that it's even harder to do in July when people are on vacation but the Open Houses will be over by June 27. Huh?
5. Claims if we "drag this out" it will give the Feds a reason to pull their money out. No one has stated a limit on the funding deadlines. They are still imaginary.
Finally, on the topic of the CRD refusing to engage the public on Viewfield during the election...
6. Surprised that MLA candidates were weighing in on sewage treatment during the election as Frank found it confusing and he thinks that voters would have been confused also.
Now that the ministers have been selected, consultation can go ahead. OMG.
Hey Frank! There's still no open mic at Saanich Council meetings. That speaks the loudest about your commitment to hear from residents to hear their concerns.
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MCLOUGHLIN REZONING APPLICATION CONTAINS NEW INFORMATION
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VIEWFIELD NEIGHBOURS PLAN PROTEST OF CRD PROPOSAL
Victoria News
June 17, 2013
Residents of Vic West and Esquimalt are planning to march across the Selkirk Trestle on Monday (June 24) to voice their opposition to a proposed sewage sludge site near their homes.
Citizens group Viewfield Neighbours is organizing the event to illustrate resident disdain towards the Capital Regional District’s proposal to locate a biosolids processing facility in the Esquimalt industrial park.
Participants will make their way from Vic West Community Centre to a CRD open house at the Burnside Gorge Community Centre at 5:45 p.m.
The $783-million project also includes a wastewater treatment facility at McLoughlin Point. Construction on that project is scheduled to begin in July.
Organizer Justine Semmens said the group believes the CRD should reject any plans to locate a sewage plant in close proximity to residential neighbourhoods.
“The Viewfield site … would directly impact the health, safety, and quality of life of approximately 5,000 residents and business owners,” Semmens said.
A series of eight CRD public engagement forums are scheduled across the Capital Region until June 27 to address public concerns and accept public input.
CRD directors will then decide whether to locate the biosolids facility at Hartland landfill in Saanich or Viewfield Road in Esquimalt.
“It is still not known if there are similar types of facilities in any known residential areas that are working as promised, for example with no fires, odour, loss of property value or other air quality problems,” Semmens said.
CRD representatives at the open house events have promised to address public concerns.
Any changes to the plan, which currently identifies Hartland as the approved biosolids site, will require fresh approval from the provincial government.
Rally participants are invited to make signs at Vic West Community Centre, 521 Craigflower Rd., from 3 p.m. on Sunday (June 23).
To contact the organizer, email vwactioncommittee@gmail.com
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ESQUIMALT BIKE-LANE UPGRADES PERFUME SEWAGE-PLANT PROPOSAL
ROB SHAW
TIMES COLONIST
JUNE 21, 2013
Upgraded bike lanes, a public education centre and interactive displays could be added to the proposal for Esquimalt’s unpopular sewage treatment plant in a bid to boost public support, the Capital Regional District says.
In a letter to Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins on Friday, CRD chairman Alastair Bryson proposed enhanced “mitigation” worth more than $1 million for the proposed facility at McLoughlin Point.
That includes “a significant contribution to upgrades of the bikeway system along Lyall Street” as well as special emphasis on plant design, public art, interpretive displays on Esquimalt’s heritage and a conference room set aside for the public to learn about wastewater treatment, Bryson wrote.
The cost of the bike-path upgrades are estimated at $950,000; the CRD is also offering to cover another $100,000 in planning fees, according to documents.
The move comes as Esquimalt council wrestles with whether to rezone the land to allow the CRD sewage facility, which remains deeply unpopular among some citizens.
Council is set to vote Monday on whether rezoning should proceed to a public hearing or be abandoned.
Desjardins said council will consider the proposed mitigation efforts as part of its vote.
“But these are not necessarily things the community has pointed out,” she said. “Many of these are things that need to be done anyway. If you’re running [construction] along the roads, with trucks etcetera, then those are mitigation factors that need to be dealt with anyways. Some of these things are certainly expectations as opposed to enhanced mitigation.”
Esquimalt’s planning advisory committee recently recommended that council refuse the McLoughlin rezoning due to concerns about safety, odour and other drawbacks.
“In response to some of the comments we have received, including those from your advisory committees, CRD staff have identified a number of mitigation measures which could be considered as part of the rezoning process,” Bryson wrote to Desjardins in the letter.
Those also include road and sidewalk upgrades, enhanced firefighting protection and upgraded power grids in the area. The plant would be designed so neighbours aren’t affected by odour or noise, Bryson wrote.
Desjardins called it “an interesting letter” and wants to see what the public thinks.
The CRD’s new plant improvements don’t include cash, a land swap or any other compensation for Esquimalt.
Bryson said the CRD has “limited legal flexibility” to offer benefits. The CRD sewage committee has previously voted against compensating Esquimalt or its residents for the sewage facility because it says other communities don’t get benefits for hosting regional facilities, such as Hartland landfill in Saanich.
The $783-million sewage project calls for a treatment facility at McLoughlin in Esquimalt and a biosolids facility at either Viewfield Road in Esquimalt or Hartland in Saanich.
The CRD is holding open houses to gather public comment on whether to use Viewfield or Hartland for a facility to handle sewage sludge.
The entire megaproject is in its first stages of tendering and is supposed to be completed by 2018.
rshaw@timescolonist.com
http://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/esquimalt-bike-lane-upgrades-perfume-sewage-plant-proposal-1.331181
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LETTERS
Improve sewage project so it will last 100 years (Ferri):
http://www.timescolonist.com/o
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http://www.timescolonist.com/o
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Demand more red tape for sewage plans (Newcomb):
http://www.timescolonist.com/o
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PUT THE SEWAGE PLANT ABOARD A LARGE SHIP (Carr)
TIMES COLONIST
JUNE 17, 2013
The struggle to find the perfect place for a sewage-treatment plant is mired in traditional thinking.
Why not place the plant in plain sight in the harbour inside a permanently moored cruise ship or an equally large vessel that can purchased for this purpose.
This is not an outlandish or cynical proposal. There are many ships for sale that would be suitable and could be retrofitted to provide the necessary treatment technology, tourism options, and possibly even house the Maritime Museum. Such a ship would fit perfectly in the harbour environment, be considered an attraction, and lend credibility to the creative spirit of Greater Victoria.
Rey Carr
Victoria
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We should be careful about where sludge goes (Holloway)
TIMES COLONIST
JUNE 17, 2013
Re: “Sewage shouldn’t be spread on land,” letter, June 8.
Capital Regional District directors and staff should be commended for courage to re-examine the use of sludge as fertilizer. This should be about much more than saving $50 million (or some other sum). It’s about how ever more people can live on a finite planet.
There are good reasons to be wary, as the CRD well knows, about introducing our sludge back into our food supply — chemicals, metals, pharmaceuticals, etc. One is wary of groundwater contamination whether in landfill or in fertilizer applications. It all wants brave sober assessment.
Good arguments can be made to fertilize tree farm area for pulp and, perhaps, to make pelletized fuel. Runoff and groundwater contamination are obvious concerns. They need careful thought. But I feel we mustn’t simply flush our toilets and suppose the stuff just goes away.
Greg Holloway
Saanich
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Site for sludge plant should be simple choice (Semmens)
TIMES COLONIST
JUNE 18, 2013
This week, citizens of the Capital Regional District are being asked to comment on a “biosolids energy centre” (sewage sludge treatment facility) either on Viewfield Road in Esquimalt or by the Hartland landfill in Saanich.
The Viewfield Road site is within a 500-metre radius of several hundred single and multi-family residential units, at least one grocery store, three bakeries, several coffee shops, three public schools, at least three daycares, a Montessori preschool, four community gardens, two churches, several restaurants, three pharmacies, a community centre, a community baseball diamond, at least three playing fields, nine playgrounds and four public parks.
And yet, the CRD’s numerical scoring metric used for site selection merely monetizes the social impacts of a potential BEC site by considering a 25 per cent depreciation in property values sitting within 500 metres of the site. If we take only this inadequate assessment of social costs of the proposed sewage sludge treatment facility into account, it would result in a pure economic loss of more than $100 million. The estimate of economic loss does not consider corollary economic impacts beyond this small radius.
Besides destroying the financial health of thousands of citizens, the destruction of property values of a substantial swatch of Victoria and Esquimalt will result in higher property taxes for the entire region to make up for the shortfall.
As for Hartland? Well, within the same 500-metre radius, there are no private homes, no businesses, no gardens, no playgrounds and no schools. The choice should be a simple one.
Justine Semmens
Victoria
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VALUE OF CHILDREN'S LIVES PART OF SEWAGE PROPOSAL (Glegg)
Victoria News
June 18, 2013 2:00 PM
Re: Viewfield Road sewage proposal
I continue to be appalled by the unrelenting efforts of the majority on the Capital Regional District’s sewage committee to place a toxic sludge plant on Viewfield Road near schools, parks and playgrounds.
Their efforts amount to nothing less than a form of apartheid based not on colour, race or creed, but on socio-economic demographics. What they are, in effect, saying is, “We are better than you, the lives of our children are worth more than the lives of your children, so we are going to dump our sewage on you.”
I am reminded of the words of U.S. Sen. Joseph N. Welch, spoken to Sen. Joseph McCarthy in 1954 during the Army-McCarthy hearings: “Until this moment, Senator, I have never really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness … You’ve done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?”
Anton Glegg
Esquimalt
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COUNCILLORS MUST INTERJECT IN SEWAGE PLANT DISCUSSION (Brown)
Victoria News
June 18, 2013 11:26 AM
On nicer weekends one can see sailboats traversing a few hundred metres off the Esquimalt shores. But on a foul-smelling day, will the sailboats stay away?
In September 2011 we moved from Vancouver to Esquimalt.
On one of the first few days at our new home I was doing some work in the front yard and Tim Morrison happened to walk by. I had no idea who Tim was, but after introductions he brought up the point that he was working to stop the sewage treatment plans from proceeding. I had no idea what he was talking about, but it soon became clear that there was a cloud forming above our new home.
At present, I am amazed at the complicity of Esquimalt council, which can choose not to rezone the treatment plant lands yet the project marches on.
The buck stops with the elected officials. Where have you gone?
Flynn Brown
Esquimalt
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SLUDGE PLANT WOULD ELIMINATE JOBS, TAXES (Bilodeau)
TIMES COLONIST
JUNE 23, 2013
Re: Esquimalt planning advisers reject McLoughlin sewage plan,” June 20.
The Capital Regional District appears to want to eliminate jobs.
The CRD seems bent on locating the sewage-sludge plant on Viewfield Road despite all the local opposition. This is zoned a light-industrial area of which there is precious little in Greater Victoria, especially near the downtown core. Light-industrial properties create economic activity — jobs and taxes.
Taking the proposed property out of this zoning and building a sludge plant will remove this economic activity forever. The plant’s proximity will reduce the economic activity of the adjacent businesses, thus eliminating more jobs and taxes.
Add this loss of jobs to the reduced values of all adjoining properties, and an economic mess is created for Esquimalt and the region. There are no such permanent consequences locating this plant at its original approved location at Hartland. Let’s keep our jobs.
Ron Bilodeau
Victoria
http://www.timescolonist.com/opinion/letters/sludge-plant-would-eliminate-jobs-taxes-1.330892
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