Re: “Red tape stifles possible solution,” editorial, June 13.
Red tape is not entirely to blame for the sewage fiasco: Blame lies squarely on the decision makers.
In November 2004, the Capital Regional District initiated a process that resulted in the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry scientific and technical review that would “determine if the CRD should implement sewage treatment” and “if so, identify what level of sewage treatment is required and why.”
The CRD also knew early on that the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment was starting the process of creating a Canada-wide regulatory framework for sewage treatment.
Finally, the engineering staff at the CRD had a preference for pursuing McLoughlin Point from the earliest days because of its proximity to the existing outfalls at Clover Point and Macaulay Point.
Given this early desire to determine if further treatment was required (SETAC actually failed to conclude this but the CRD paid $605,000 anyway), the locations of the existing outfalls and the anticipated federal regulations (which completely ignore the receiving environment and the ongoing chemical discharges), you would think that experienced politicians would have had the foresight to initiate the negotiating process sooner.
Federal regulations, federal ownership of Department of National Defence lands, and federal leases on Macaulay Point and Clover Point should have been a clear indicator to the CRD to involve the federal government at the beginning, rather than at the end.
Richard Atwell
Saanich
