WELLAND (Staff) - A discharge of sewage into the Welland River near McMaster Avenue will be eliminated in about two months.
That is when the city will connect the existing sewer line to the Welland water pollution control plant, predicts city engineer Gus Marcello.
Marcello said the discharges pose no health danger, but the concentrations of sewage in the waste water entering the Welland River is higher than Ontario Ministry of Environment guidelines.
As a result, the ministry has ordered the city to connect the McMaster Avenue sewer to the pollution control plant.
"We have retained the consulting firm of R.V. Anderson to study the situation and design the necessary connection, said Marcello.
"We should have that information in about a month and then we will call tenders, he said.
"As far as the connection is concerned, it will not be that difficult to hook up and should take about one or two weeks. "
Environment Minister Jim Bradley, in a recent letter to Barry Fitzgerald of 491 Deere St., said the "problem has a long history" but "is shortly approaching a resolution."
Fitzgerald, who ran for the Freedom Party in the November Welland-Thorold byelection, wrote the ministry expressing his concern about sewage entering the Welland River from the McMaster pipe.
Bradley said negotiations took place between the ministry and the city to ensure a connection was made between the sewer line and the pollution control plant and a ministry order to have the work done was issued.
"The order is presently being finalized," said Bradley.
The city has embarked on a program to separate sanitary and storm sewers, a project which will take a few years as funds become available.
There are a number of sewer lines serving dual sanitary-storm purposes in the city and they are being identified by city public works staff and placed on a priority list for separation.
The separation, said Marcello, will save the city money in the long term because water which does not require treatment will not go though the pollution control plants.
Those plants are operated by the Region and the city pays a fee on each gallon of water treated.
Fitzgerald could not be reached for his reaction to Bradley's letter.
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last updated on April 28, 2002
