The City of Montreal is planning to dump eight billion liters of untreated wastewater into the St. Lawrence River later this month.
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Schumer, D.-N.Y., planned an event in Ogdensburg, New York, Friday morning, but canceled it due to inclement weather. But a former Congressman says the U.S has no jurisdiction in the issue. The raw sewage would be dumped for up to a week as part of a highway reconstruction project. The sewage will head away from New York, but it has drawn condemnation from USA officials.
“The dumping of raw sewage could impact the river’s water quality, the surrounding ecosystems, the community and the infusion of tourism dollars that flow into St. Lawrence County each and every year because of the St. Lawrence’s beauty”, the release continues.
Separately, State Sen. Patty Ritchie this week asked the worldwide Joint Commission to intervene. Schumer said because this sewage disposal threatens the safety of its population or could lead to long-term pollution, the two countries must work together to remedy the situation immediately.
Mr. Schumer was scheduled to visit Ogdensburg on Friday for a news conference to talk about the potential negative aspects of the proposed Canadian sewage dump, but canceled at the last minute because a bank of thunderstorms made flying into the region too unsafe.
After all, he added, the current of the river might be powerful enough to wash the waste away from the city’s shores, but other cities upstream will have to contend with what Montrealers flush. The city says it expects to hear back from Environment Canada by Wednesday, but the federal agency says it has not agreed to a timeline and must thoroughly review the proposal before making a decision.
“We have to respect the St. Lawrence River”, said paddler Antoine Bonicalzi.
Save The River, an advocacy organization committed to protecting the St. Lawrence, has also launched a search for an alternative to the Montreal’s plan on the crowd-sourcing site IdeaBuzz.com. “This is unacceptable and in this day and age we can and must do better”.
Montreal officials say the sewage dump is needed so that workers can relocate a snow chute, a large opening that brings water from melting snow to a wastewater treatment plant.
And while Environment Canada approved similar dumps in 2003 and 2007, the federal authority has yet to greenlight the plan.
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Montreal’s plan has been panned by environmental activist Erin Brockovich, who wrote on her Facebook page, “Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre wants to take a big dump in the Saint Lawrence River”. “This is causing grave concern on our side of the border, the Canadians would”.
