RAW SEWAGE TO BE DUMPED IN ST. LAWRENCE RIVER . . . PEASE HELP STOP THIS WE HAVE 2 WEEKS TO STOP THIS SO THIS IS URGENT.

  • by: Nancy Kittle
  • recipient: New York state senator Patty Ritchie & Denis Coderre - Mayor of Montreal & head of the executive branch of the Montreal City Council.

The city of Montreal is going ahead with its controversial plan to dump 8 BILLION LITRES of raw sewage into the St. Lawrence River, stirring the ire of lawmakers across the border and raising eyebrows at Environment Canada. New York state senator Patty Ritchie has urged the International Joint Commission, the binational body responsible for protecting the Great Lakes' waters, to look into the plan. "While I realize that the dumping will occur in Canadian waters, downstream from any U.S. communities, I am very concerned by the precedent Montreal is setting for other communities along the St. Lawrence and the lakes," she said in a letter sent to the commission and published on her website. Environment Canada, for its part, said Sunday it's also researching the implications of the plan. "I can tell you that ‎under the Wastewater Systems Effluent Regulations, Environment Canada cannot authorize this type of wastewater deposit," spokeswoman Barbara Harvey told CBC News. "The Fisheries Act prohibits unauthorized deposits of deleterious substances into water frequented by fish."

A spokesperson for the city told CBC News the city was awaiting Environment Canada's determination. "Yes, it takes an authorization, that's why we asked for it," Valérie De Gagné said. After public outcry, Montreal's mayor halted plans to dump the sewage into the St. Lawrence River, but on Friday the chairman of the city's executive committee, Pierre Desrochers, said that emptying a major sewer interceptor into the river is the only viable option to allow necessary construction work to be completed. Officials say the purge is tied to the relocation of a snow-dumping area under a nearby expressway. It currently feeds into a sewer receptor -- but before that can be done it has to be emptied, along with all other sewer lines attached to it. It's been six years since the city last dumped raw sewage into the river. Montreal is not the first Canadian city to deliberately place untreated sewage into oceans, lakes and rivers. Out west, Victoria discharges millions of litres of raw sewage into the Strait of Juan de Fuca and since 2004, Winnipeg's outdated sewer system has led to 185 million litres of raw sewage being dumped into the city's waterways. In 2014 Halifax also allowed untreated sewage to flow freely into Halifax Harbour, years after Halifax's sewage treatment was finished. THIS CAN NOT LONGER BE AN OPTION FOR ANY CANADIAN OR U.S. CITY. AT THIS TIME WE HAVE ENOUGH POLLUTION IN THE ST LAWRENCE AND THE ATLANTIC OCEAN MAKING IT DIFFICULT BUT NOT IMPOSSIBLE TO CLEAN UP FOR GOOD WATER TO DRINK. SHAME ON CANADA

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