Larry O’Brien

The recent action by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment regarding the 2006 Ottawa River sewage discharge was expected.

I have directed the City Solicitor to provide Council with a complete briefing on these charges at our upcoming Council meeting on August 28.

When the circumstances surrounding the 2006 sewage discharge came to light in June 2008, in part due to the work by Orléans Councillor Bob Monette, Council immediately launched an independent investigation by the Auditor General, the City Manager has implemented new policies for discharge reporting and our Wastewater Division is engaged in remediation efforts to prevent this type of incident from happening again.

Last year Ottawa City Council approved $25 million to install real-time control and monitoring of the wastewater valves to prevent this type of reporting problem from occurring. The construction of the new system is on-going and will be completed by 2009. As well, last month City Council agreed that matching the $20 million federal government commitment to resolve this problem on a permanent basis is a priority in the 2009 budget.

We will continue our ongoing capital investments into improving our wastewater treatment and Council looks forward to working with the federal and provincial governments to share the costs associated with protecting our waterways.