PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Montreal, September 27, 2018 – 93 municipalities do not treat their wastewater in Quebec and discharge it directly into the environment. These municipalities must take the necessary steps to stop polluting. While all other Quebec municipalities have assumed their responsibilities and the inherent costs for decades, it is unfair that these 93 lagging municipalities benefit from the government's laxity.
“An unacceptable, inequitable neglect between municipalities and towards citizens who must respect the regulations regarding their own individual sanitation systems. These delays are all the more improbable given that only six municipalities have corrected the situation over the past three years,” declares Alain Saladzius, engineer and president of Fondation Rivières. Remember that the Regulation respecting municipal wastewater treatment works (ROMAEU) came into force in November 2015.
While almost all Quebec municipalities completed their wastewater treatment work during the 1990s and 2000s, it is difficult to understand why the government does not resolve the case of these small municipalities, where the sewer network discharges without treatment in the environment.
The different processing technologies are known. These municipalities could, for example, use aerated retention ponds for very low operating costs. Subsidies offered by Quebec are available. These are even increased for the least fortunate municipalities. In order to reduce costs, it is possible to carry out performance calls for tenders, group projects together or process files on a regional scale.
Mr. Saladzius is concerned about the declarations of mayors of certain recalcitrant municipalities affirming “that they will not go to prison” if they do not respect the deadline of December 31, 2020, meaning that they have no fear of the consequences of their inaction.
The Fondation Rivières and the population of Quebec have the right to demand that the next government, through its Ministries of Sustainable Development, Environment and the Fight against Climate Change (MDDELCC) as well as that of Municipal Affairs and of Territorial Occupancy (MAMOT), applies the law and obliges these municipalities to stop their discharges into the environment without delay.
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For informations :
Alain Saladzius
President
514 924-2013
presidency@fondationrivieres.org
Photo: Cristian Palmer/Unsplash
