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An open letter to the French River community.

In the September/October issue of French River Today, Dean Wenbourne did an excellent job of explaining some of the water quality issues facing the French River. Toxic algae blooms are now an annual occurrence in parts of the river. Water quality and fish stocks are deteriorating and examples from other areas show us that if left unchecked, these trends will have serious, negative consequences both environmentally and economically. Unfortunately, Councillor Wenbourne was probably also correct when he wrote that, "we cannot depend on government to provide the level of water quality that is needed".

While working as the science officer for the French River Stewardship Council (1) (FRSC) I identified operational problems at the municipal lagoon. These problems were not identified from studies of water quality in the river but rather; from reviews of the municipalities own record of reports from the Ontario Clean Water Agency. OCWA is contracted to operate the municipal lagoons and they provide regular reports on the lagoon operations. These records show that the present system cannot handle the amount of water it is receiving and as a result, untreated and undertreated waste water has been discharged into the tributaries of the French River(2).

Public involvement is a good thing and as one of its founding directors I worked hard to get the FRSC off the ground as a non-profit corporation. Two of our municipal councillors sit as directors on the FRSC board and are well aware of the water quality problems; yet municipal council does not take the issue seriously. True, they have named the FRSC as an official advisory group to the municipality and will be expecting quarterly reports from the stewardship council. However, at the same time our municipal council has made clear their belief that economic growth is what we need, not environmental responsibility. So the inputs to the lagoon system increase (3) while the problems downstream are talked about and then forgotten (4). We don't need more reports from the FRSC to sit beside the OCWA reports; we need a municipal government that is willing to act!

October, 2009
Dr. Bill Nuttley, B.Sc., Ph.D.

1    -   The French River Stewardship Council is a local volunteer group that I was involved with for a few years. I was a founding director of the non-profit corporation and the only scientist on the Stewardship Council. I resigned for the council in July 2009 due to their decision to align themselves politically with the Municipality of French River. back

2    -   For instance, in the spring of 2007 there was a bypass of the lagoon and about 300,000 litres of untreated sewage was discharged to the river. In addition, both of the lagoons were drained down that spring, which resulted in approximately 70,000,000 litres of sewage from the South lagoon being discharged with inadequate retention time. In fact, from May 14-16, 2009, both lagoons were being discharged at the same time. About 1,000,000 litres of sewage passed through the system during that period. Sewage must be held in the lagoon for months to allow for biological processes to properly treat the waste. back

3    -   The Municipality of French River is currently planning an expansion of the inputs into the municipal sewer system with the addition of up to 45 new connections. The October 21, 2009 report to council by CAO M. Monette suggested that council, "assume that there is adequate capacity for this project." and the project should move forward. back

4    -   At the August 19th Municipal Council Meeting, Councillor Wenbourne reported that there are concerns with the capacity of the Noëlville Lagoon. Councillor Garbut informed the Municipal Council that he would arrange a meeting with OCWA officials. The meeting had already been held in April! Councillor Garbutt, Joe Dippong and I met with two representatives of OCWA in April. Mr. Dave Walters of OCWA agreed that it would be preferable to let the lagoon sit for the summer but was worried that there was not enough capacity to hold the water until the fall. It was agreed that the North lagoon would be discharged only if further analysis by OCWA determined that there indeed was not enough capacity to hold and treat the water. The lagoon was discharged in May without adequate treatment, confirming that the volume of sewage was too much for the lagoon to handle. back

More articles by French River Watch;

Resolution 2010-90; irresponsible governance in the Municipality of French River. March, 2010.

Noelville sewage treatment lagoons. February, 2010.

Proposal for a power plant on the French River. January, 2010

French River algae blooms. January, 2010

French River Community Fisheries Enhancement Committee. December, 2009

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