Ministry of Environment (MOE) staff is concerned that many sewage treatment facilities in Greater Sudbury are not meeting provincial guidelines, a problem that will not be addressed until after the provincial government resolves the current impasse with its civil servants.
MOE environmental officers ensure that those plants follow numerous provincial guidelines in the proper treatment of sewage.
“We have inspected the facilities in the past and found non-compliance with provincial guidelines,” said Tom Brown, Senior Environmental Officer. “Unfortunately, the provincial government does not share our concern as it has assigned no emergency or essential employees to monitor local sewage facilities.”
The problem is that this coincides with what is referred to as “by-pass” season, when surges in spring run-off occasionally force treatment facilities to temporarily permit untreated sewage to by-pass plants into rivers. Normally, MOE monitor by-pass activities to ensure that provincial guidelines are being met and to alert the public in case of concerns.
A number of years ago, by-passed sewage was accidentally diverted into Ramsay Lake, jeopardizing a major source of local drinking water.
MOE staff will be holding information pickets on Tuesday morning at the Sudbury Sewage Treatment Plant on Kelly Lake Road to bring the public up to date as to the potential dangers of the current situation
