Pride versus Shame:
Argument:
BC residents and Victorians in particular feel ashamed that one of their major cities operates below third-world standards. A Citizen Survey conducted by the CRD in 2003 showed sewage treatment is the most important project in the mind of the public. A second, unpublished poll conducted by the CRD in 2004 showed majority support among Victorians for moving ahead with sewage treatment. The world is coming to visit in 2010, and Victoria need not take the gold medal in pollution.
Counter argument:
Victorians can be proud that their regional government has built a natural sewage treatment system that fully meets Triple Bottom Line criteria - social, economic and environmental. Why should Victorians kow-tow to the uninformed opinions of outsiders who know little about our unique marine environment of Juan de Fuca Strait?
Analysis
There is much to be proud of in our careful monitoring and research of the marine environment that has supported our current system. Other cities are no doubt envious of Victoria, not only because of our unique marine geography that permits our relatively simple and cost-effective approach, but for our continuing initiatives in our "best practices" monitoring and source controls programs.
Shame and embarrassment about our present sewage treatment system are words used often by organizations seeking to exploit natural concerns for our environment, even to the extent that some politicians have been parroting these same words. However, that is not a sound reason to discard our satisfactory sewage treatment system in favour of an unknown leap into an embarrassing morass of financial burdens, with no measurable improvements in our environment. That would be shameful, indeed!
What has been missing is enough public awareness of the effectiveness of the current deep sea outfalls. Currently the Victoria Core Area sewage (which is really 99.93% water and very little actual solids), is discharged from two deep ocean outfalls more than a kilometer from the shore, after first passing through 6 mm screens. There are no “Floaties”. At the end of the outfalls the effluent passes through diffusers that are 200 meters long and 60 meters (200 feet) below the surface of the ocean. Most of the year, the effluent plume is dispersed well below sea level. In the winter months, the diluted effluent plume (diluted by 1600 times before it reaches the surface) surfaces only 4.8% of the time at the Macaulay outfall and 1.7% at Clover point. Occasional bacterial tests have detected this diluted plume. But there is no evidence that it represents a public health risk – based on a comprehensive study of potential human exposure.
While many Victorians may not be aware or may not agree, the current method of disposal of our liquid waste is highly effective (environmentally and economically), and has not been shown in several studies to produce any significant measurable effects on the environment. There is evidence of metals and other chemicals in the ocean sediments that may have arisen from many sources, including Victoria’s long historical practice of dumping solid waste (garbage) from barges into the ocean, shipwrecks (a coal barge sunk of Brotchie Ledge) and from other sources, including storm drains, and migrating harbor pollution.