He’s not calling it a crisis, but the CEO of Municipalities NL says if the federal government doesn’t come up with a better plan for the implementation of wastewater regulations, it will have a significant impact on towns across the province.
MNL has called an emergency meeting in St. John’s this Friday with all seven of the province’s MPs in attendance.
Enforcement officers are already handing out notices to town clerks, indicating that their towns must be in compliance or face stiff penalties.
The cost for small towns with little to no infrastructure is in the millions of dollars for construction alone. Then comes the added cost of running and maintaining wastewater treatment facilities.
Even the country’s largest cities are crying foul and CEO Craig Pollett says it is completely unrealistic to expect small rural communities to meet the same standard as cities where the infrastructure already exists.