Wastewater regulations flow from federal government
Posted Feb 18, 2010 By Roy Lewis
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The federal government has announced sweeping municipal wastewater regulations which, when implemented, will set national effluent quality standards for all water treatment facilities in Canada and prohibit the discharge of raw sewage into waterways.
Roy Lewis, St. Lawrence EMC
From left, Gord Brown, MP for Leeds-Grenville and federal Environment Minister Jim Prentice listen to design engineer Jeff Kempson of Maple Leaf Environmental Equipment explain the operation of Biological Membrane Bioreactor wastewater treatment system after it was announced at the Brockville plant the federal government's proposed municipal wastewater regulations.
Members of the public now have an opportunity to comment on the draft regulations through Environment Canada's website. The proposed regulations, expected to be enacted this year, are targeted to be published in the Canada Gazette, Part 1 later in March for an opportunity for input from stakeholders and interested parties.
"It is not acceptable that we continue discharging untreated waste into our waterways," said Canada's Environment Minister Jim Prentice at a press conference in Brockville on Feb. 9.
Prentice announced the new proposed regulations at the Maple Leaf Environmental Equipment plant on California Avenue in part because it is a subsidiary of Calco Environmental Group, which has grown to become the largest manufacturer of environmental remediation equipment in North America. The minister also selected Brockville because of the stewardship the city has shown with its sewage treatment plant upgrade on the St. Lawrence River, a significant Canada watercourse where upwards of "10,000 cubic metres of water flows by every second."
"There is so much water that it is so easy to take the resource for granted except when a beach is shut down because of pollution, there is an advisory to boil drinking water or we are warned to limit our consumption of fish and shellfish," he said.
"Canadians fall short of their stewardship responsibilities when they use their showers, drain their sinks or flush a toilet and the waste water is not properly treated," said Prentice.
Since municipal wastewater effluent is one of the largest sources of pollution to Canadian waterways, the federal government implemented its Canada-wide strategy for the management of municipal wastewater effluent. Provincial ministers of the environment endorsed the strategy in February of 2009.
Of the more than 4,000 Canadian municipal wastewater treatment facilities, between 800 and 1,000 scattered across the country do not meet the proposed standards. Of these, between 300 and 400 high risk treatment plants will be given the highest priority to meet the standards.
Prentice said the government will phase in the regulations with high-risk facilities being addressed before 2020, medium-risk facilities by 2030 and low-risk facilities by 2040.
The cost of implementing the strategy over the next 30 years is estimated to be between $10 billion to $13 billion. But while meeting with reporters, Prentice emphasized that he was not making a cost-sharing announcement for the upgrades of municipal waste treatment facilities. However, he said the government has identified wastewater infrastructure as a priority in its infrastructure programs and is supporting such projects under its Green Infrastructure Fund and Building Canada Fund.
The Building Canada Fund supports infrastructure activities through resources from the Gas Tax Fund which the government has extended beyond 2014 and is estimated to generate $2 billion annually, pointed out Prentice. The Gas Tax Fund supports environmentally sustainable municipal infrastructure projects that contribute to cleaner air, cleaner water and reduced greenhouse gas emissions.
Prentice encouraged municipalities to work with the government to "get your treatment systems up to standard."
"The government has put the funding in place so let's use it," he said.
As part of the municipal effluent standards strategy, agreements are intended to be negotiated between Ottawa, the provincial governments and the Yukon government. In time, the federal government will also negotiate agreements with the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. These agreements will cover the roles and responsibilities for reporting, compliance, inspection and enforcement.
"With new municipal wastewater regulations in development and our ongoing commitments under the Action Plan for Clean Water, the government of Canada is taking concrete steps to make sure that Canadians continue to enjoy water that is clean, safe and plentiful for generations to come," said Prentice.
"We are committed to working together with the provinces, territories and municipalities to make this a reality," he added.
PLANT TOUR
Following his announcement, Prentice and other officials at the press conference toured the Maple Leaf Environmental Equipment facilities where they viewed the firm's multiple environmental systems including vacuum extraction, air and water treatment, process control automation and custom fabricated units. The company's primary manufacturing plant, at the corner of California Avenue and Laurier Boulevard in Brockville, employs 70 staff consisting of millwrights, electricians, technicians, design engineers and sales engineers.
Remediation systems produced at the plant are mounted on skids, trailers or inside portable buildings and have been transported across North America to be used in such applications ranging from self-contained sewage treatment systems for mining camps to cleaning underground pollution caused by gasoline stations to extraction systems for air and water polluted by chemicals.
TANGIBLE DIFFERENCE
Maple Leaf Environmental Equipment is part of Calco Environmental Group founded in 1992 by Robert Kulhawy and Bruce Lounsbury.
"We wanted to create something that made a tangible difference for our environment," said Kulhawy, chairman of the Calco Environmental Group.
In 2006, the company, which currently employs a total of 150 employees at its various facilities, acquired Filter Innovations Inc., a Toronto-based wastewater treatment company. Through emerging technology, the company has built equipment, including its Biological Membrane Bioreactor wastewater treatment system, designed specifically for small applications such as private households, condominiums, hotels, resorts, golf clubs, small villages and subdivisions.
"Our collective vision is being leaders in providing unique, practical solutions specific to every individual customer that not only work but are cost effective and deliver real results that benefit us as Canadians today and our children tomorrow," said Kulhawy.
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