This good news has been awaited since 1992.
Lack of treatment before $775M facility opened sparked international criticism, threats of tourism boycotts
After decades of debate, delay and denunciations, the Capital Regional District this week officially ended the practice of releasing untreated sewage directly into the ocean near Victoria.
Four years of construction and several weeks of testing on the McLoughlin Point Wastewater Treatment Plant in Esquimalt, B.C., were completed just in time to meet the federal government requirement for a functioning facility before the end of 2020.
Colin Plant, the CRD chair and a Saanich district councillor, expressed pride over the successful startup of the treatment plant on Dec. 15.
"We are now able to say to the public that we are treating our wastewater," Plant said in an interview with CBC On the Island host Gregor Craigie.
"What is being discharged into the ocean is the cleanest water this region has ever put into the ocean that we would call our wastewater," Plant said.
The $775-million project will cost about $50 million a year to operate, including financing costs for the CRD's $316-million share of the development, Plant said.
One economic advantage to the expense could be the end of campaigns calling for tourists to boycott Victoria over its dubious distinction as — according to the regional government itself — the last major coastal community in North America to dispose of untreated sewage into the marine environment.
By Lindsay Kines
James Skwarok, who used to make public appearances as the man-sized turd, Mr. Floatie, to draw attention to Victoria’s sewage mess, welcomed the CRD’s announcement.
“Our initial group called POOP — People Opposed to Outflow Pollution — I think we were very successful in raising attention or awareness that Victoria needed sewage treatment, and we did it in a fun way,” he said.
“I think we’re all very happy that it’s finally done and that we now have tertiary treatment. We know that our marine environment will be healthier for it, and we’re very proud that we could help bring this project to fruition.”
As part of the project, a residuals treatment facility at Hartland Landfill will convert leftover sludge into Class A biosolids, which will be used as fuel by a cement plant in the Lower Mainland.