Documents show Environment Canada knew in 2014 about Montreal raw-sewage plan - Montreal - CBC News

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CBC.caMENU TV Radio News Sports Music Arts Local More Watch Listen Log in SEARCH British Columbia Kamloops Calgary Edmonton Saskatchewan Saskatoon Manitoba Thunder Bay Sudbury Windsor Kitchener-Waterloo Hamilton Toronto Ottawa Montreal New Brunswick Prince Edward Island Nova Scotia Newfoundland & Labrador North Kids Documentaries Comedy Books Parents Aboriginal Weather CBC Connects Digital Archives Podcasts Games Contests Site Map CBC Member CBC User You currently have: 0 Likes 0 Comments Subscriptions Go to the Subscriptions Centre to manage your: CBC Newsletters Daily Digests Breaking Alerts Log Out Log out of your CBC account. My Profile My Subscriptions Log Out Montreal LIVE Montreal More Streams Radio One Listen Live CBC News Canada CBC News Navigation Home World Canada Politics Business Health Arts & Entertainment Technology & Science Trending Weather Video Canada Montreal Photo Galleries Documents show Environment Canada knew in 2014 about Montreal raw-sewage plan Federal environment minister tweeted Wednesday that her office only found out about dump plan a week ago The Canadian Press Posted: Oct 07, 2015 5:07 PM ET Last Updated: Oct 07, 2015 7:36 PM ET The City of Montreal must temporarily divert a sewer interceptor, which would see eight billion litres of wastewater dumped into the river. (iStock) Related Stories Montreal sewage dump plan 'lesser of 2 evils': Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard St. Lawrence raw sewage dump: Montreal mayor gives Environment Canada 3 days to meet St. Lawrence not only Canadian waterway sullied by raw sewage St. Lawrence River sewage dump petition gets thousands of signatures While the federal environment minister says she found out only recently about Montreal's plan to dump eight billion litres of raw sewage into the St. Lawrence River, documents obtained by The Canadian Press show her department has known since 2014. Leona Aglukkaq tweeted Wednesday that her office learned last week of the wastewater dump plan, which has become fodder in the federal election campaign and also been panned by environmental activist Erin Brockovich. Last week my office learned of Montreal's plan to dump billions of litres of raw sewage into the St. Lawrence. 1/2 — @leonaaglukkaq This plan is concerning and we have done the responsible thing by exploring options to prevent it while we get more information. 2/2 — @leonaaglukkaq But documents show the federal Environment Department has been copied on correspondence since 2014, with full details and talking about an expected start date for the work in October 2015. That is in line with the version of events Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre gave earlier this week. In another document, an Environment Canada official confirms in an email the department was aware of the project in September 2014. Ministry responds The City of Montreal will allow eight billion litres of wastewater to flow into the St. Lawrence River for a week, starting Oct. 18, in order to make modifications to a major sewer interceptor under Mill Street. (Radio-Canada archives) Ted Laking, a spokesman for Aglukkaq, later maintained she was only told last week. "Notwithstanding that it is clear officials knew as early as September 2014 about the city of Montreal's plans, the minister only learned of the plan last week," Laking wrote in an email. "Upon hearing of this plan the minister instructed Environment Canada to explore options to prevent this sewage dump while we receive further science-based information and analysis on the environmental impacts of what Montreal is planning." Laking said the immediate concern is ensuring the St. Lawrence is protected. Coderre has accused the Conservatives of playing "cheap" politics after they called on the city to suspend the work, which is expected to start the day before the Oct. 19 election. On Tuesday, he invited Environment Canada officials to meet with his administration by week's end to discuss the matter. Coderre said initially there was a plan to streamline the process so that both provincial and federal environment departments wouldn't have to sign off on the plan. Coderre reiterated on Wednesday that his invitation to meet remains on the table. 'Turds 'n' tampons': Erin Brockovich on Montreal sewage dump St. Lawrence raw sewage dump: Montreal mayor gives Environment Canada 3 days to meet St. Lawrence not only Canadian waterway sullied by raw sewage St. Lawrence River sewage dump petition gets thousands of signatures Dumping plan makes political waves The sewage dump became a federal campaign issue this week when Conservative candidate Denis Lebel weighed in, prompting accusations from Coderre the federal politician was slinging political sludge. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper entered the fray during a Saskatoon campaign stop. "Obviously, a lot of concern has been expressed about this in Montreal and throughout Quebec and our ministers have already expressed their preoccupations," Harper said. "We are encouraging the city to meet Environment Canada and to consider other possibilities to settle this matter." In Quebec City, Premier Philippe Couillard reaffirmed support for Coderre's plan, saying experts have gone over numerous scenarios and that he agrees with the mayor that, while unappealing, the short-term dump remains the best scenario. "Mayor Coderre asked the federal representatives to come to the table right away and they should do this," Couillard said. "If somebody has an idea of genius that has not been mentioned until now, fine. "But until now each time we've looked at this and Mayor Coderre and his team have looked at this, we always come to the same conclusion." The provincial Environment Department approved the plan in February and Coderre has said it isn't the first time the city has proceeded in this manner — similar dumps were done in 2003 and 2007 — with federal blessing. The story has made the rounds, with Brockovich contributing to the debate on her Facebook page on Tuesday. "Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre wants to take a big dump in the Saint Lawrence River," she wrote, calling the plan "ridiculous and shameful" and urging people to call Montreal city hall. Erin Brockovich, environmental activist, chimes in on Montreal sewage dump Montreal sewage dump plan 'lesser of 2 evils': Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard The one-week sewage dump is aimed at relocating a snow chute that runs under a major downtown expressway that is being razed to build an urban boulevard. © The Canadian Press, 2015 Report Typo Send Feedback Comments on this story are moderated according to our Submission Guidelines. Comments are welcome while open. 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