It’s quite a contrast how pollutants are viewed. A Thunder Bay Pulp Mill was fined $250,000 for, “…failing to ensure that effluent discharge and testing limits were maintained…” The company that was fined failed to ensure that the water was properly treated before discharge.
Now, juxtapose the above non-compliance issue to the City of Montreal who was granted permission to discharge 8 billion litres of raw sewage into the St. Lawrence River. Though the discharge turned out to be only 4.9 billion litres, it was, nonetheless, an unappealing process.
While this is, again, a reminder that environmental compliance is as much about politics & permission as it is science, there are some other larger issues at work here.
The Montreal Sewage “Dump”
With a quarter-million-dollar fine, the Thunder Bay story is certainly noteworthy (especially as our work focuses on helping companies avoid non-compliance with environmental regulations), the Montreal issue points to a much larger problem. The Montreal sewage dump was needed in order to make some needed repairs on sanitary sewer lines. Unfortunately, raw-sewage dumping into water bodies is not new, nor necessarily infrequent.
A recent article in the Globe and Mail states, “Victoria is Canada’s most infamous example of municipal indifference, dumping all of its raw sewage – 130 million litres daily – directly into the Juan de Fuca Strait. Cities such as Winnipeg, Windsor and Toronto all have occasional raw-sewage overflows.”
It’s part of the “ugly consequences” of aging infrastructures plaguing major cities across North America. While emerging issues such as the impact of microbeads “pop up” and demand attention and legislation, old, less glamorous issues such as old sewer pipes and combined sewer overflows remain… and remain to be potentially significant.
So why doesn’t our aging infrastructure get as much press as other environmental issues? Perhaps it’s because promising new sewers isn’t nearly as likely to stir the attention of voters as much as microbeads, pesticides, and greenhouse gas Cap and Trade. Yet, arguably, repairing sewers and eliminating or reducing raw sewage from flowing into our waterways can led to a significant environmental benefit for everyone.
Environmental issues have always been a complex mixture of public attention, public outrage, the current news cycle, and real & perceived “hazards.” Inevitably, addressing what happens when we flush our toilets will be at the nexus of these issues and will get attention and funding. Until then, there will likely be raw sewage dumped into our surface waters… however, neglect your discharge permits to your own peril.
As it relates to environmental compliance and avoiding fines and penalties, as always, we can help. Feel free to contact me (cpare@dragun.com) at 519-979-7300, ext. 114.