Turning the toxic tide

For more than a decade Ecojustice has been critical of both Vancouver and Victoria for being laggards when it comes to the treatment of municipal sewage -- and as a result British Columbia’s reputation has repeatedly taken a beating.

But the tide appears to finally be turning.

In 2006, Victoria and its suburbs, together known as the Capital Regional District (CRD), were finally ordered by B.C. Environment Minister Barry Penner to prepare a plan for implementing sewage treatment.

Later that year, Ecojustice initiated a ground breaking private prosecution against Metro Vancouver (formerly the Greater Vancouver Regional District or GVRD), arguing that it needs to upgrade to advanced sewage treatment to avoid toxic waste being dumped into the Strait of Georgia.

Meanwhile, the CRD continues to pump more than 34 billion litres of raw sewage into the nearby Strait of Juan de Fuca each year. Given that sewage is a potent mix of human waste and hundreds of highly toxic chemicals, the impact of dumping billions of litres of raw sewage into the ocean is especially alarming.

To draw attention to this issue, in late 2005 Ecojustice pressed the Province of British Columbia to examine the toxic contaminants accumulating around CRD sewage outfalls and to designate the outfall areas as contaminated sites for exceeding provincial contaminated sites standards. In July 2006, experts hired by the province confirmed our findings that the seabed around the outfalls have high levels of toxic chemicals, meriting their designation as contaminated sites.

These findings, coupled with recommendations from an independent scientific panel, led the province, in July 2006, to direct the CRD to come up with a plan to implement sewage treatment.  In December 2007, the province approved the CRD’s plan to implement sewage treatment for the region by 2016, but also imposed additional conditions requiring the CRD to consider novel, innovative technologies and approaches, commonly referred to as Resource Recovery.  After decades of political inertia, the directive marks a new era of sewage treatment in Victoria.

The situation in Metro Vancouver has not been much better. Metro Vancouver treats sewage only to the primary level at two of its five treatment plants. Primary treatment leaves high levels of toxic chemicals and heavy metals in the effluent, which is directly released into local waters.  And although the province ordered the CRD to submit a plan for expediting implementation of sewage treatment upgrades, it has made no similar request of Metro Vancouver.

In August 2006, Ecojustice ratcheted up the pressure by launching a private prosecution of Metro Vancouver and the Province regarding the Lions Gate facility located north of Vancouver, and a separate charge in December 2006 for the Iona sewage treatment plant located south of the city.  While the Lions Gate charge has been stayed and the Iona charge is scheduled to go to trial in 2009. The prosecution alleges that both parties are responsible for the ongoing dumping of toxic sewage into the Strait of Georgia and are in violation of the federal Fisheries Act.

Although the federal government has long known about the violations, it has failed to act. Ecojustice has stepped in to enforce the law and launch its own prosecution supported by a coalition of environmental groups and commercial fishermen.