Order To Stop Untreated Outflow Is Expected To Be Made Of City

By Guardian Writer
DAVID EDGAR

After years of allowing raw sewage to flow into the Welland River, it appears the City of Welland will be ordered to clean up its act.

The ministry of the environment is expected to order the City to connect the McMaster Avenue sewer outfall to the Welland water pollution control plant since the discharge violates the Environmental Protection Act.

Welland resident Barry Fitzgerald, a Freedom Party candidate in the November Welland-Thorold byelection, wrote to environment minister Jim Bradley expressing his concerns about the untreated discharge. Fitzgerald also made the discharge an election issue.

Jim Bradley responded in writing to Fitzgerald in a letter dated Jan. 9, of this year. In the letter, given to The Guardian by Fitzgerald, Bradley states, "The city has not made the connection and therefore my staff have recommended the City of Welland be ordered to connect the McMaster Avenue sewer to the water pollution control plant."

City officials could not be reached for comment despite repeated calls from The Guardian.

DETRIMENTAL

The situation is having a detrimental impact on the environment, according to Tony Koch, spokesperson for the ministry of the environment in Welland.

Fitzgerald told The Guardian he had paddled his canoe along the Welland River last summer to verify rumors that raw sewage was being discharged into the Welland River. According to Fitzgerald he was first alerted to the problem after hearing about colored discharge discovered by a group of paddleboaters. The City has known of the situation at the McMaster Avenue sewer for years.

Fitzgerald has been working to put an end to the dumping of raw sewage into the river, but reports, "I've been getting the runaround."

Koch said raw sewage has been entering the Welland River for at least 10 years from this origin, but the volume of sewage has decreased. The high costs attached to redirecting the sewage to the pollution control plant may explain why the city has been slow to respond to the problem, according to Fitzgerald.

Once the order to connect the sewer to the treatment plant is received by the City of Welland, they must comply. The expense of this costly project will be borne by municipal taxpayers, because the City will be billed by Regional government for treating the sewage at its water pollution control plant. City officials could not be contacted for the precise cost of rectifying the problem.

Welland-Thorold MPP Peter-Kormos said he was not aware of this specific problem, but he was aware that "a great deal of sewage has been dumped into Welland waterways." This relatively new revelation is "entirely inappropriate" said an angry Kormos.

Fitzgerald said, "The environmental laws are no good if they are not enforced."

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Page last updated on April 28, 2002