Victoria, BC, Plans to Stop Dumping Raw Sewage in the Ocean

After decades of bad press, international outrage and government directives to clean up its act, the City of Victoria, capital of British Columbia, finally agreed to stop flushing raw sewage into the Strait of Juan de Fuca, which divides the western edges of Canada and the United States and flows between the Pacific Ocean and Puget Sound in Washington state.

Earlier this month [June 2009], regional leaders approved a $1.2 billion plan to build four treatment plants to process the 34 million gallons of sewage that the 300,000 residents of Victoria and six neighboring suburbs dump into the Strait every day.

Environmentalists are cheering the long-overdue move, pointing out that untreated sewage contains toxic chemicals, heavy metals and other contaminants that pose risks to public health and marine life, including the region’s killer whales. Victoria’s neighbors in nearby Vancouver, BC, and in Washington’s coastal communities on the Olympic Peninsula and among the San Juan Islands are also happy about the plan.

Critics of the plan argue that the money is needed elsewhere and that raw sewage pumped into the strait is so quickly diluted and dispersed that it doesn’t need to be treated. Some scientists agree that sewage flushed into the strait poses only minor risks to the marine environment and public health.

But here’s the thing: Why should a modern city that bills itself as a tourist destination and the gateway to Vancouver Island’s pristine forests, waterways and beaches continue to function like a Third World village with no access to sewage treatment technology and processes? And how sustainable would it be if every city and town in the world took the same approach?

Victoria’s decision to finally take responsibility for its human waste is probably a long-delayed response to the BC government’s 2006 order for the city to develop a sewage treatment plan—or maybe public pressure and the ongoing protests finally got to city officials. In addition, the decision may have been motivated in part by the Winter Olympics, which are scheduled to take place in Vancouver in 2010 and sure to bring millions of new tourists to the region.

One thing is certain: Victoria isn’t going to win any gold medals for environmental stewardship or civic responsibility.

Also Read:

• Canada Takes Crap for Flushing Raw Sewage into the Ocean