Armed enforcement officers threatening 60-year-old volunteer town clerks with jail time. Millions of dollars in upgrades expected from towns with less than a thousand people.
Reps from over a hundred communities and all levels of government gathered at the Municipalities NL emergency meeting today. Many leaders of our communities feel like they’re screaming into a vacuum about issues surrounding federal Wastewater regulations, which they say are just impossible to meet.
Reps from towns across the province are here.
The WSE regulations affect 115 municipalities in NL.
Only ten are currently in compliance. #nlpoli pic.twitter.com/IfAzSv8wJv
— Andrew Hawthorn @ VOCM (@HawthornVOCM) September 6, 2019
These communities are on board with proper management of wastewater, but say they have had neither the time nor funds to upgrade water systems.@MunicipalNL gives the example of Woody Point, a town of 249 homes while alone would need a $3-million investment.
— Andrew Hawthorn @ VOCM (@HawthornVOCM) September 6, 2019
Woody Point is just one of 115 similar communities.
That means we’re getting into a potential $345-million cost for the province to meet regulation. https://t.co/qVRLjnpOP1
— Andrew Hawthorn @ VOCM (@HawthornVOCM) September 6, 2019
And they want to meet those regulations. Roddickton-Bide Arm Mayor Sheila Fitzgerald describes raw sewage being dumped onto a beach near their town. But as Buchans Mayor Derm Corbett says, his volunteer council spends 24 hours a day chasing broken pipes, and doesn’t even have time to even think about wastewater treatment.
Mayor Derm Corbett of Buchans says this isn’t a joke.
He says their volunteer council spends 24 hours a day chasing broken pipes. They can’t even start a conversation about treating wastewater. pic.twitter.com/j1LagIB1CV
— Andrew Hawthorn @ VOCM (@HawthornVOCM) September 6, 2019
Corbett says either every person in the room, the leaders of over a hundred communities across the province, are all complete incompetents, or WSER was rolled out wrong, without even their enforcers knowing what was happening. pic.twitter.com/aRY0uLDoXe
— Andrew Hawthorn @ VOCM (@HawthornVOCM) September 6, 2019
Everyone here knows what needs to be done.
Better communication, guidance for how to start, a reasonable timelines, and federal funding.
Tony Keats, president of @MunicipalNL says it’s frustrating to be behind the eight ball on wastewater.
But he continues that many of these communities are behind the eight ball on DRINKING water, under near permanent boil orders, and that remains their priority. #nlpoli pic.twitter.com/7S6UaujK2a
— Andrew Hawthorn @ VOCM (@HawthornVOCM) September 6, 2019
As things stand now councils and volunteers, even personally, can be held accountable for failure to comply. But MNL CEO Craig Pollett says if anyone is going to jail, they’ll all be going together.
Craig Pollett asks what one thing Ottawa could do to make this better.
Straight answers; everyone knows what needs to be done.
Better communication, guidance for how to start, a reasonable timeline, more respect for town councils, and federal funding. pic.twitter.com/8HjIhvsYga
— Andrew Hawthorn @ VOCM (@HawthornVOCM) September 6, 2019
