The CRD is putting lipstick on a pig. Why do I have the uncomfortable feeling that none of the Capital Regional District directors/managers/project specialists has attended a risk assessment/management course recently.
Years ago, “Mr Floatie” (bless him) did his level best to alert the population of Greater Victoria to the adverse effects of our undiluted sewage effluent upon offshore ocean life. Eventually, expert consultants entered the picture to advise, cajole and be retained by the CRD, to resolve the sewage treatment corrective measures identified as necessary by regional, local, provincial and federal authorities.
Decades later, the project manager (CRD) seems to have lost sight of the necessary protective measures that must be retained for the resident human population, even as the CRD tries to enhance protection to offshore ocean life.
It seems that the “experts” convinced the CRD that a wastewater treatment plant in Esquimalt will do the job. Unfortunately, on closer examination, it really does not seem to provide everything that might have been offered when first presented.
Preliminary, primary, secondary and tertiary sewage treatment for Greater Victoria. What takes place where, when, and for how long ? What did Mr Floatie envisage? Why must the complete sewage treatment process have to take place in more than one location?
The CRD’s proposal to pump partially treated sewage sludge through residential neighborhoods en route to some final destination seems to have lost the thread when risk management measures are applied. Maybe it is time for a closer look at what the CRD is proposing for residential neighborhoods. What colour lipstick anyone?
P.W. Bailey
Saanich