Given how long the issue of sewage treatment has percolated in the Capital Region, itB次元官网网址檚 clear local politicians have had a difficult time agreeing on how to get it done. So what happens when politicians from a jurisdiction in another country take action in an attempt to steer the sewage treatment ship in Greater Victoria?
The recent support for legislation in Washington State that would ban the reimbursement for any business travel to Victoria by state employees B次元官网网址� except in emergency or court-ordered situations B次元官网网址� for the next year or until the CRD ceases to pump untreated sewage into the ocean shows our neighbours to the south continue to watch weB次元官网网址檙e doing on the issue.
As anyone who has advocated for the regionB次元官网网址檚 tourism sector over the past 20-plus years can attest, this isnB次元官网网址檛 the first time Washingtonians have made a stink about our lack of sewage treatment.
Mike Harcourt, who grew up in Victoria and lectures these days on environmental stability among other topics, was B.C.B次元官网网址檚 premier in 1992 when he signed the Environmental Co-operation Agreement with then Washington governor Mike Lowry.
That deal, which came a year before a U.S. group unhappy with the lack of progress threatened a tourism boycott of the city, was part of a broader collective vision for the Georgia Basin and Cascadia, Harcourt says.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a very fragile, difficult area with lots of challenges, including pollution of the water and the air, runoff from pulp mills, raw sewage and car exhaust,B次元官网网址� he says.
That co-operative approach to regional environmental issues, in part, led to Harcourt promising Lowry in an informal agreement in 1993 that Victoria would have primary treatment in place by 2002, and secondary treatment up and running sometime between 2008 to 2013.
He recalls some of the work being done at the time, including a joint scientific panel set up with researchers from the University of Victoria and Washington state. That group, having studied the shared marine waters, came back with what Harcourt characterizes as B次元官网网址渂izarreB次元官网网址� findings.
B次元官网网址淭o our astonishment, they said B次元官网网址榶es-no,B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址� he says of how they answered the question of whether damage was being done to the marine environment near Greater VictoriaB次元官网网址檚 outfalls.
Harcourt believes the findings not only convinced Victoria member of parliament and then minister of environment David Anderson not to put any federal dollars into treatment, but led him to embrace the notion that B次元官网网址渄ilution is the solution.B次元官网网址�
Of Lowry and himself Harcourt says, B次元官网网址淲e were stymied, he and I, because our scientists came up with this ambivalent, at best, response.B次元官网网址�
There have been other sewage-related snubs since. A telling one came last summer when Pam Elardo, director of King CountyB次元官网网址檚 wastewater treatment division and Washington representative on the Seaterra Commission overseeing the CRDB次元官网网址檚 sewage treatment efforts, quit over the projectB次元官网网址檚 lack of progress. In her resignation letter she wrote, B次元官网网址淚t appears that construction and operation of a wastewater treatment system is now years, if not decades, away.B次元官网网址�
The Seattle Times newspaper followed up with an editorial calling VictoriaB次元官网网址檚 political process B次元官网网址渃onstipatedB次元官网网址� and wrote, B次元官网网址淭he failure is an embarrassment for stately Victoria, and it undermines the rigorous work to clean up Puget Sound.B次元官网网址�
Other Washington governors have told Victoria to get on with it and implored the province to intervene, from Christine Gregoire during a pre-Olympics chat with Gordon Campbell in 2006, to Jay Inslee last year after the McLoughlin plan blew up.
As to whether optics are playing a role in Washington getting involved yet again, Tourism Victoria CEO Paul Nursey can give a firsthand answer.
B次元官网网址淭his stuff really hurts us a lot. When IB次元官网网址檓 pitching conferences it always come up,B次元官网网址� he says. B次元官网网址淭he Washington State employee thing is a very small number, but itB次元官网网址檚 the negative publicity around that that is damaging.B次元官网网址�
Harcourt admits there has been B次元官网网址渘onsenseB次元官网网址� spoken about the issue on both sides from people without credentials.
Regardless of negative comments and potential boycotts, the bottom line, he says, is that the region just needs to get on with it. B次元官网网址淭his is about what you would expect any municipality to do in Canada or the U.S., which is to treat your sewage.B次元官网网址�
Share your thoughts
Get the dialogue going. Send your opinions on this series to don.descoteau@blackpress.ca or call 250-478-9552 ext 224. You can also post comments to the Facebook or Twitter pages of your Black Press community newspaper. Please include your name and a telephone number for verification.
[]
