Improve reporting of sewage dumping: group
Last Updated: Tuesday, July 28, 2009 | 8:47 AM ET
The Canadian Press
An environmental group says an error in information about untreated sewage being released into Ontario waterways highlights the need for better reporting of such incidents.
Ecojustice says its latest sewage report shows a significant error in the information supplied by Niagara Falls to the provincial government.
The group says that underscores the need for immediate public reporting of all sewage dumping incidents.
It says the error was made when Niagara Falls incorrectly reported the volume of sewage released during a so-called "bypass" event in September 2007 to Ontario's Ministry of the Environment.
The ministry has said sewage sometimes needs to be diverted into lakes and rivers to prevent an overload at treatment plants.
The figure reported for Niagara Falls in 2007 was 6,925,452,000 litres. But that figure has now been corrected to 326,278,590 litres.
Ecojustice says it got the data from the ministry and was never informed of the error or provided with corrected data.
"Seven billion litres of sewage is a number that should have gained the immediate attention of officials," said Elaine MacDonald, a scientist with Ecojustice.
"The fact that this figure wasn't corrected by government officials earlier shows the extent to which Ontario's sewage dumping problem is not being taken seriously."
The group says its report will be revised and an update will be posted online.
Share Tools
Latest Toronto News Headlines
- Truck dangles on overpass after 401 crash in Ajax
- A section of Highway 401 is closed for hours after a tractor-trailer collides with an SUV, slides off the highway and hangs perilously over the roadway below. more »
- GO Transit train damaged by debris on tracks
- A GO Transit train is damaged after striking a short track section that appears to have been deliberately laid over the rails. more »
- Everest team unable to bring down Toronto woman's body
- Bad weather has hampered the recovery team that is attempting to bring down the body of a Toronto woman who died trying to climb Mt. Everest. more »
- Man shot dead in Oshawa
- A man in is mid-30s is dead after he was shot at a house in Oshawa on Friday night. more »
Top News Headlines
- Teen struck by lightning in Ottawa dies
- The victim of a Friday lightning strike during a storm in east Ottawa has died, CBC News has learned. more »
- Montreal protesters march in peaceful defiance
- The clanging of pots and pans sounded throughout Montreal's downtown core Saturday night and into early Sunday morning, as thousands of protesters marched on in peaceful — but loud — defiance of Bill 78. more »
- Syrian children massacred by the dozens, UN says
- More than 90 people have been killed by regime forces in a district of central Syria, with the head of the UN team in the country confirming at least 32 children and 60 adults were killed in an artillery attack. more »
- Missing Winnipeg children found in Mexico
- Two Winnipeg children reported missing and possibly in Mexico have been found alive, according to unofficial reports from an agency that works to find missing people. more »
- Everest victim's husband says family not seeking government help
- Truck dangles on overpass after 401 crash in Ajax
- Brampton family seeks woman missing since Thursday
- GO Transit train damaged by debris on tracks
- 'Save me' last words of Mount Everest climber
- Timmins fire crews aided by calmer winds
- Everest team unable to bring down Toronto woman's body
- Man shot dead in Oshawa
- Serial carjacker gets life term for fatal crash
