[LookOutSugarLake] Ministry of Environment (reference 90970)

[handr at telus.net]

Mr. Reiner,

Thank you for answering the concerns of people writing about the  
Kokanee Lodge's proposed effluent discharge into Sugar Lake and the  
Shuswap River.

Your response (below) states that decisions made by the Ministry  
adhere to standards that are designed to protect our health and that  
of our environment. Unfortunately, (1) recent scientific studies as  
well as (2) recent political decisions prove very much that decisions  
made by OUR Ministry of Environment have too often resulted in  
benefitting mainly the health of developers, and not that of the  
public nor the environment.

You state that the "stringent science-based standards within the  
Regulation are designed to protect human health and the environment".  
I remind you that the MSR standards are not based on stringent  
scientific information but on what is practiced elsewhere. I also  
remind you that those same standards are now under revision, as more  
and more data is showing that they no longer are adequate to protect  
against pollution.

(1) Products that remain in treated effluents such as  
pharmaceuticals, surfactants, and chemical water soluble poisons, are  
having such devastating effects on some rivers that many European  
Hydro Companies are now forced to ignore the power issue in order to  
manage (read; dilute) downstream pollution. We also know of "gender- 
benders" and their effects on aquatic life, and of fish dying from  
the effects of surfactants.

You also talk of "treated effluents" yet we all know, thanks to all  
the problems that have already occurred with discharges at Shuswap  
Lake, that seasonal developments often discharge effluents that are  
not treated or are incompletely treated due to many reasons given to  
you by Interior Health. In such cases, the only thing anyone can do  
is to give uses a "boil water advisory". Knowing that, how can you  
possibly tell us that the decisions the Ministry takes are always to  
our benefit? If there was no problem with discharges to water from  
private developments, (2) why would our politicians have agreed to  
give Shuswap Lake a 2-year moratorium on such discharges?

Anyone who has studied science should know that one of the main  
tenets of science is that all new findings bring new understanding,  
which is why findings must be peer reviewed and published. Having  
sent you many recent scientific studies that prove that even  
completely treated effluents still contain damaging products, knowing  
that the Kokanee Lodge registration included a 3 month commissioning  
period, and knowing that Shuswap Lake is now faced with pollution  
that never existed prior to discharges, how can the Ministry possibly  
even consider not insisting that a land discharge be required?

It is impossible for me to think that this would not be done if our  
Ministry of Environment really had the public and the environment's  
health at heart.

Huguette Beaudin.



On 22-Feb-07, at 6:52 PM, The Squairs wrote:

>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: WWW ENVMail ENV:EX
> To: Woodlot, W1454 FOR:IN
> Cc: Harrison, Sarah PAB:EX
> Sent: Thursday, February 22, 2007 4:13 PM
> Subject: Ministry of Environment (reference 90970)
>
>
> Reference:  90970       File:  76763-20/RE 18256
>
> Batch 90974
>
>
> February 22, 2007
>
> Doris Squair
>
> Email:  dsquair at telus.net
>
> Dear Ms. Squair:
>
> This is further to the acknowledgment email to you dated February  
> 1, 2007, regarding the discharge of treated effluent to Sugar Lake  
> from the proposed Kokanee Lodge development.  Your email has been  
> forwarded to me for response.
>
> With respect to Kokanee Lodge’s registration under the Municipal  
> Sewage Regulation, the stringent science-based standards within the  
> Regulation are designed to protect human health and the  
> environment.  The standards were developed in close consultation  
> with many regulatory agencies, including the Ministry of Health.   
> Ministry staff are confident that compliance with the Regulation  
> will provide a high level of protection for Sugar Lake and the  
> Shuswap River.  Ministry staff are also carefully reviewing the  
> environmental concerns received from the Interior Health Authority,  
> the petitioners, and the North Okanagan Regional District, to  
> determine if additional conditions for discharge are advisable.
>
> I hope that this addresses your concerns.  Please feel free to  
> contact regional ministry staff directly at (250) 490-8222, if you  
> require additional information.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Original signed by
>
> Mike Reiner
> Assistant Regional Manager
>
> Environmental Management Division
>
> pc:     Sarah Harrison, Public Affairs Bureau
>
>
>
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