The Ottawa SUN reported that
A record rainfall Monday contributed to roughly 120 million litres of sewage
overflowing into the Ottawa River.
In a memo to city councillors Tuesday, environmental services staff say the
Ministry of Environment's Spills Action Centre, public health branch and
downstream water system operators were notified about the overflow.
And Friends of the O-train's Klaus Beltzer wants to know why the city can not spend money where it matters, and insists on spending it where it does not?
Dear Councillors,
The expensive work that you authorized - the $30 million for real -time
control systems at three regulators - will not prevent overflows. The system
just helps staff know that regulators are working as designed and saves Staff
from having to inspect the regulators manually after each rain event. That
is, all that money was spent so that Staff can remotely monitor that the
regulators correctly close off the flow going to the Ottawa River once the
combined volume of sewage and storm water returns to levels that can be
handled by pipes going to the sewage treatment plant in Beacon Hill North
called the Robert O. Pickard Environmental Centre (ROPEC).
It does not negate the need for City crews to go out there to close "stuck"
gates manually after the rains have stopped, that still has to be done.
And these expenditures have done nothing to address the fact that whenever
there is rain, even small amounts, the sewers going to ROPEC can't handle the
flows and sewage gets dumped into the Ottawa River.
We need to get those holding tank solutions in the ground, and this for me is
MORE important than building the $207 BRT-LRT transfer station at Baseline,
especially since that station won't be needed for LRT for another 20 years!!!
So, why are we building it now ?
Why are we not proceeding now with CSO Storage Project Option B at an
estimated cost of $95 to $140 million instead of pouring $207 million into
the Baseline BRT-LRT transfer station that was suppose to only cost $20
million?
Will this become yet another case of strategic mismanagement and cause for
residents to get upset about your (Staff recommended and Council approved)
spending priorities?
Klaus Beltzner, B.Sc., M.Math., M.B.A.