Along the rocky south coast of Vancouver Island, hundreds of construction workers are building a nearly $800 million dollar wastewater treatment facility — a project that has been debated for decades and described as long overdue by some, and completely unnecessary by others. "I think it is huge," said Elizabeth Scott, deputy project director for the wastewater treatment facility.
"There is a lot of residents that understand the importance of the project ... and will feel a great deal of pride in the project for generations to come."
Wastewater facilities don't typically stoke civic pride, but the project and its history is unique because most of the Victoria area has never treated its sewage. Currently, it is screened and anything larger than 6mm is blocked. The rest flows into two separate outfall pipes, and is then discharged into the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
The region is the last major coastal community in North America to dispose of untreated sewage into the marine environment, according to the local government.
Several scientists have repeatedly argued that the area's cold water and fast flowing currents mean the wastewater is quickly diluted and produces no harmful effects.
However, federal regulations introduced in 2012 now mean that the Capital Regional District, which includes Victoria, Saanich, and Esquimalt, B.C., have to have a treatment plant up and running by the end of 2020.
When the plant is finished, it will include three levels of treatment. Officials say it will be able to remove contaminants that are particularly concerning like pharmaceuticals.
It will also quell the criticism and protest that has been levelled against the region for decades.
Deputy Project Director Elizabeth Scott says the most challenging part of the wastewater treatment project is that it requires laying as much as 30 kilometers of pipe, which will run through urban areas. (Briar Stewart/ CBC News )
"We have had a false image of a garden city and underneath, we had all the sewage going into the ocean," said James Skwarok, a Victoria teacher who strolled the coasts and streets dressed as "Mr. Floatie" beginning in 2004.
He got the inspiration for his environmental protest about sewage dumping from a character on the cartoon show South Park.
As the mascot for the group P.O.O.P. (People Opposed to Outfall Pollution), Mr. Floatie raised a stink, becoming a walking, visual representation of a message environmental groups had been delivering for years.
"Our beautiful ocean is not a big magical toilet where everything disappears," Skwarok said. "It was an embarrassment for the tourism industry and for local politicians to have this tall turd walking around."
Mr. Floatie and other environmentalists ran a public campaign to try and pressure officials to build a wastewater treatment plant. The mascot frequently spoke to tourists visiting Victoria about where the city's sewage was ending up. (Chat Hipolito/The Canadian Press )
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