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John's 'Harbour Cleanup' may well be the single greatest environmental
issue in New Brunswick, and the least understood. The title invokes
visions of machines dredging polluted sediments from the ocean bottom,
while others comb the shoreline for litter and debris. In fact, it is
neither. Harbour Cleanup simply refers to the infrastructure initiative
that will bring an end to the practice of discharging 6 million litres
of raw sewage into our watercourses each day.
(photo: Gordon Dalzell)
Some would argue that dumping raw sewage into the
harbour is not unique to Saint John, and they would be partially
correct, given that Halifax, St. John's and Victoria all discharge
untreated wastewater into their marine environments. However, Saint John
has the notorious distinction of being the only municipality in Canada
that discharges raw sewage into streams that run through the heart of
its city, creating third-world conditions in what is supposed to be one
of the most environmentally progressive countries on earth.
The
implications of this practice are enormous. Health risks associated with
waters receiving raw sewage include amoebic dysentery, cholera, typhoid,
Hepatitis A, and a broad range of other gastrointestinal, respiratory
and skin disorders. Canadian (federal) guidelines suggest that waters
that contain more than 200 fecal coliform bacteria per 100 ml are unsafe
for uses such as swimming, wading or fishing. Marsh Creek, located in
the center of Saint John, has levels that annually exceed seven million
coliform bacteria per 100 ml of water, while Dutchman's Creek, located
near an elementary school in Saint John, has levels so high they almost
make Marsh Creek look like drinking water.
Adding insult to injury are the massive volumes of
solid materials such as faeces, toilet paper, condoms and tampons that
cling to the aquatic vegetation and wash up on our beaches. The organic
wastes build up in the lower portions of Marsh and Dutchman's Creeks and
rot in the heat, creating odours that become unbearable during the
warmer summer months. This environmental degradation creates a terrible
social stigma for the city, and degrades civic pride.
(photo: Gordon Dalzell)
So why has this been allowed to continue? The answer
partly includes such antiquated notions as 'dilution is the solution to
pollution', whereby the harbour was viewed as the world's greatest
toilet that flushed 'away' sewage twice per day. Of course, today we're
knowledgeable enough to recognize that 'away' simply refers to someone
else's beach.
The other key part of the story involves the price
tag associated with this infrastructure initiative; that being $88
million over ten years. Approximately half of the money will be used to
construct a modern wastewater treatment facility, with the remainder
being used to construct lift stations, forced mains, and the other
infrastructure needed to divert the sixty-plus sewage outfalls from
central and east Saint John to the treatment plant. The large price tag
and lack of glamorous ribbon-cutting opportunities has proved a
deterrent to establishing a trilateral agreement amongst the municipal,
provincial and federal governments. Add to this the inevitable conflicts
that arise when political representatives for the region belong to the
opposition party, and you have a situation that has historically
received little more than political lip service.
However, the past two years have seen a notable
change in political involvement associated with the Harbour Cleanup
portfolio. This change began to take shape following the Public Forum
hosted by ACAP Saint John in October 2004. The Forum saw over 200
concerned citizens, business owners and politicians (including Saint
John Mayor Norm McFarlane) participate in an information session that
removed many of the misconceptions about Harbour Cleanup. Around this
time, the Saint John City Council endorsed Harbour Cleanup as their top
priority, and federal MP Paul Zed emerged as a leader in championing the
cause. Unfortunately, a funding agreement could not be formalized
between the three levels of government before a federal election was
called.
Fast-forward to March 24, 2006 and the arrival in
Saint John of newly elected Prime Minister Stephen Harper. By all
accounts, Mr. Harper had arrived to make the big funding announcement we
had all been waiting for, a trilateral agreement for $88 million.
Imagine the disappointment when the announcement only called for a three
way split of $8.5 million, with a pledge to continue negotiations over
the next ten years. The public outcry was substantial.
The problem with the $8.5 million announcement was
that it did nothing to advance the ten-year timeline needed to complete
Harbour Cleanup, which is contingent upon the construction of the $50
million treatment plant. Without the plant, the lift stations and sewer
outfalls have nowhere to be diverted. The timeline begins with the
beginning of construction of the plant. The citizens had a right to be
disappointed given the amount of hype generated prior to the
announcement.
Having said that, I believe it is important to
acknowledge what the announcement means to the initiative as a whole.
Specifically, it was the third time in four months that the leader of a
national political party was in Saint John committing (albeit verbally)
to seeing the ten-year project through to completion. Add to this the
visit by federal Environment Minister (Rona Ambrose) on March 15, 2006
and you have the highest level of political acknowledgement of the
problem that we have seen to date. This in itself is a huge step
forward.
It is important that the value the community places
on this project not be underestimated. People have reached the point
where they realize that if Saint John is to truly move forward as a
tourist and resident friendly municipality, it has to move out of the
19th century and clean up its act. Water and wastewater infrastructure
is a basic requirement of any modern municipality. Furthermore, this is
not just a Saint John issue. The Saint John Harbour is the gateway of
the Saint John river system, which extends 670 km through New Brunswick
into Quebec and Maine. Millions of anadromous fishes, including Atlantic
salmon, sturgeon, shad, gaspereau, striped bass and smelt, move through
the narrow confines of the Reversing Falls on their way to spawning
grounds. As such, the provincial and the federal governments also have a
responsibility to address this issue quickly and decisively.
We can only hope that the progress made towards
trilateral government discussions (implied in the recent funding
announcement in Saint John) is a sign of bigger things to come.
