Canada Takes Crap for Flushing Raw Sewage into the Ocean
Canada flushes some 200 billion liters of raw sewage directly into natural waterways every year, from the St. Lawrence River to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific Ocean.
Greater Victoria dumps an average of 82 million litres of raw sewage into the Juan de Fuca Strait every day.
The sewage is screened before being discharged, but is otherwise not treated.
Victoria and Esquimalt
The region pumps about 130-million litres of raw sewage daily into the Juan de Fuca Strait, a channel leading to the Pacific Ocean.
A Dangerous Brew
According to Macleans, Canadas leading news magazine, the sewage is a mixture of water, human waste, microorganisms, toxic chemicals, heavy metals, excreted pharmaceuticals and, potentially, pathogens such as cholera, typhoid and hepatitis B.
Canada has no national standards for sewage treatment that cities and towns must follow.
Victoria Proud of Pollution
According to many environmentalists, however, the worst offender in the Canadian landscape is Victoria, the picturesque provincial capital of British Columbia. Not only does Victoria pump its raw sewage directly into the Strait of Juan de Fuca, an arm of the Pacific Ocean, but city officials also claim they are doing the right and responsible thing for their community and the environment. They see no reason to change.
Victoria’s long-delayed sewage treatment plans have become an international irritant, with Washington State demanding the B.C. government step in to stop the flow of raw waste into the ocean. Environmentalists and communities in the United States complain of pollution.
The federal Green Party candidate also opposed the sewage-treatment plan.
The Victoria sewage debate has been swirling for decades. Many are worried that when the Capital Regional District finally builds sewage treatment plants to manage millions of litres of raw sewage being dumped into the ocean each day, along with the tonnes of toxic chemicals in that sewage, their taxes will go up.
Continuing to delay action can only put our health and our ecosystem's health in further peril.
The Great Montreal Sewage Dump of 2015