Denise Blackwell of the Capital Regional District’s sewage committee has responded to Esquimalt’s bylaw (2806) that approves sewage treatment on McLoughlin Point. In her words, the bylaw has “unworkable” setback requirements.
Bylaw 2806 requires an eight-metre setback from high water. Yet, according to provincial public-safety guidelines, the setback should be 15 metres from the expected high-water mark. Note that is 15 metres from the “expected” high-water line.
Provincial guidelines say to use a high-water mark that is at least one metre higher than it is now. But sea levels are rising faster than expected just a few years ago, so caution suggests a two- or three-metre high-water mark. The CRD atlas shows McLoughlin Point is just five to seven metres above the current high-water mark.
For years, experts and the public have been telling the CRD that McLoughlin Point is the wrong site to treat the entire region’s sewage. The CRD should not put the system at risk in this single location.
Experts have offered viable alternatives, yet the CRD does not listen.
Bryan Gilbert
Victoria
