Our Governor reaches out to BC and asks for their help to bring Victoria up to modern specs of sewage outflow. Come on Victoria, get your act together or stop pretending you care about the environment. I was just up there and they are so proud of their environmental protections. This is one glaring hole in the tapestry.
http://www.king5.com/news/local/In-Washington-State-Victoria-sewage-hits-the-fan–262800061.html
Washington Governor Jay Inslee and King County Executive Dow Constantine sent a strongly worded letter to Canadian authorities over a yet to be stemmed flow of raw sewage into Puget Sound waters. “As the Governor of the state of Washington and the Executive of King County, we are very concerned by the lack of progress in treating wastewater and protecting the health and habitat of Puget Sound,” they said in the letter sent to British Columbia Premier Christy Clark. The letter comes in response to an announcement last week that a deal for a new sewage treatment plant to be built to serve the rapidly growing Victoria area had fallen apart. That announcement comes 20 years after Canadian officials first announced plans to build a facility. Gary Chittim reports. (KING)
See also: Washington governor urges action on capital region sewage plan http://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/washington-governor-urges-action-on-capital-region-sewage-plan-1.1125746Lindsay Kines and Bill Cleverley report. (Times Colonist)
Filed under: Puget Sound | Tagged: Puget Sound, sewage, Victoria |
Victoria doesn’t need more sewage treatment and scientists agree that Victoria’s marine-based sewage treatment system is very low risk – especially compared to higher-risk sewage plants.
1. Panel of Washington and BC marine scientists’ report “Shared Marine Waters of British Columbia and Washington” says that effect of Victoria’s sewage on area waters negligible: http://blog.pugetsoundinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/SharedMarineWaters1994.pdf
2. Several BC marine scientists’ published letter in academic journal with similar conclusion: impact of Victoria’s long screened effluent outfall discharge on Strait of Juan de Fuca is minor – a very low risk:
http://www.excellentfuture.ca/sites/default/files/Marine%20Pollution%20Bulletin%20Sewage%20Treatment%20Wasted.pdf
3. Recent letter published in local magazine by several BC marine scientists reiterate that impact of Victoria sewage is very low.Scroll down to “Scientists on sewage treatment”: http://focusonline.ca/?q=node/651
4. Responsible Sewage Treatment Victoria website has many other science and public health opinions that support Victoria’s natural, sustainable marine-based sewage treatment system: http://www.rstv.ca