What is forgotten in the uproar is that this project to replace our current world-class system of natural marine treatment is completely unnecessary.
It is a political scandal and dereliction of duty that the Capital Regional District sewage committee has not used the abundance of scientific evidence to argue on our behalf that the federal requirement to install secondary treatment is flawed.
The U.S. Congress listened to such arguments and concluded that “the evidence was overwhelming” that it was unnecessary to require secondary treatment for all marine discharges. A U.K. royal commission came to a similar conclusion.
Canada’s regulators ignored experts’ warnings that our regulations are flawed, just as regulators ignored experts’ warnings that the new building code was flawed. Building code regulators’ bullheadedness caused the leaky-condo disaster, forcing condo owners to spend millions to repair and rebuild their condos.
This time, wastewater regulators’ and the CRD sewage committee’s bull-headed refusal to listen to experts is forcing us to waste a billion dollars on an unnecessary megaproject.
Brian Burchill
View Royal
