Montreal begins raw sewage dump into St. Lawrence

The river runs for nearly 1,200 kilometers (745 miles) from Lake Ontario to the Atlantic Ocean, and features migratory birds and a variety of whales.

The city of Montreal has begun dumping two billion gallons of untreated sewage into the St. Lawrence River, after agreeing to conform its plan to federal conditions.

At 12:01 a.m. Wednesday morning certain sewers began diverting untreated sewage away from an aging interceptor and directly into the river, which will continue for about a week.

The government says the sewage dump is needed in order to fix underground sewage infrastructure that, it says, would cause even bigger problems if it were to break unexpectedly.

“What’s most important is the tests that we did before and during and after, that’s the best way to judge”, said Richard Fontaine, chief of Montreal’s waste water management.

The city has said the dump, expected to last up to a week, is necessary while work is carried out to replace ageing parts of the waste treatment system that could create a greater environmental hazard if it unexpectedly broke.

“It’s a lovely day today, people are walking along the river and they’re literally walking next to raw sewage, contaminating the shoreline”, Green said.

The city took out full-page advertisements in local newspapers explaining the planned discharge is unfortunate but necessary.

Coderre brushed off the criticism, saying all levels of government would sit down to address the issue.

Alexandre Joly, head of a non-profit group devoted to improving the quality of water in St. Lawrence and access to it, called on Montreal residents to avoid putting a few items such as condoms and tampons down the toilet during the wastewater dump.

“You have to remember that whatever you put in the toilet for the next week is going to go directly into the river”, Joly told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. “That’s the question you have to ask yourself”, Fontaine said.

In Quebec City, Municipal Affairs Minister Pierre Moreau said Quebec municipalities must reduce sewage spills but did not set specific goals.

His said his department’s data reveals Quebec cities conducted 45,000 sewage spills in 2013 alone.