A Montreal school was flushing sewage into a river for years. The city knew but failed to address it

A Montreal simple schoolhouse has been inadvertently flushing earthy sewage into a adjacent stream for years, and nan city, contempt identifying nan problem successful 2021, is only now taking action to hole it.

The Lester B. Pearson School Board says it has temporarily closed 2 bathrooms astatine Terry Fox Elementary School successful nan Montreal borough of Pierrefonds-Roxboro that person been incorrectly draining into a large wind sewer alternatively of a sanitary sewer.

The earthy sewage has contributed to highly contaminated h2o successful 1 spot on nan Prairies River northbound of nan Island of Montreal. The large wind sewer empties into nan stream adjacent a nationalist park, wherever fecal coliform counts routinely scope a level 60 times higher than nan city’s contamination threshold.

The metropolis has been alert of nan contamination astatine slightest since 2008 but says it didn’t place nan root until 2021. The schoolhouse board, however, says it only learned astir nan sewer problem successful a missive from nan metropolis connected June 26 — aft The Canadian Press began asking astir nan contamination.

Darren Becker, head of communications astatine Lester B. Pearson, said nan metropolis has requested an action scheme by July 29. He said nan schoolhouse committee will prosecute an engineering patient to retrofit nan plumbing connections, and hopes to person nan activity done earlier kids return to schoolhouse successful August. He doesn’t cognize why nan committee didn’t study of nan problem earlier.

“I don’t want to put immoderate blasted connected nan city,” he said. “In nan end, nan repair activity is going to get done.”

Becker said nan 2 bathrooms were added to nan schoolhouse during an description successful 1966. It’s not clear whether sewage has been flowing into nan stream since then.

Kim Nantais Desormiers, a City of Montreal spokesperson, did not respond to questions astir why it took 3 years to pass nan schoolhouse of nan problem. But she did connection a timeline of nan steps nan metropolis has taken to reside nan rumor since 2008, erstwhile it conducted a “first exploration” of nan area.

According to nan timeline, nan metropolis carried retired dye testing betwixt 2009 and 2011 to place wherever sewage was flushing into nan large wind sewers, but didn’t find nan root of nan problem. Another bid of dye tests successful 2015 besides grounded to place nan source.

Finally, a 3rd information of tests successful 2021 revealed alleged cross-connections — pipes that are connected to a large wind sewer alternatively of a sanitary sewer — astatine 1 residence and nan school.

Meanwhile, nan contamination of nan h2o adjacent nan rima of nan large wind sewer has continued unabated. City of Montreal information going backmost to 2012 show that fecal coliform concentrations adjacent nan Parc de la Rive-Boisée successful Pierrefonds-Roxboro person routinely deed 60,000 per 100 millilitres, and erstwhile reached 370,000 per 100 ml.

The Quebec authorities deems that h2o pinch fecal coliform counts supra 200 per 100 ml is unsafe for swimming, and thing supra 1,000 per 100 ml is polluted. Of astir 500 measurements betwixt May 2012 and June 2024, nan h2o value astatine nan sampling constituent adjacent nan large wind sewer fell beneath nan contamination period conscionable 66 times.

This year, nan highest fecal coliform count connected grounds astatine nan sampling location is 56,000 per 100 ml, from a sample taken successful May. At that level, a kid playing successful nan h2o could easy get “diarrhea and tummy cramps for a mates of days,” and nan effects could beryllium overmuch worse, said Daniel Green, co-president of nan biology group Société move Vaincre la Pollution.

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There is nary formation astatine Parc de la Rive-Boisée, and Nantais Desormiers said swimming is not authorized astatine nan park. Two adjacent sampling points show overmuch little contamination levels.

Still, Green said nan contamination successful nan stream adjacent nan parkland has been a “well-known problem” for years, and nan metropolis has been “extremely slow successful identifying nan culprits.”

“The City of Montreal I deliberation is acting dishonestly,” he said. “It’s easy to find (the sources) if you put your caput to it.”

Green said location should beryllium signs up successful nan parkland informing group of nan contamination.

Sewer cross-connections are a long-standing problem but tin beryllium difficult to resolve. Repairs often impact digging up streets, and location tin beryllium disagreement astir who’s responsible. Nantais Desormiers said nan metropolis pays for nan activity erstwhile nan relationship is connected nationalist onshore betwixt nan spot and nan sewer.

Green said nan metropolis is often slow to woody pinch specified problems because of nan administrative hurdles.

“You person to shame them publically for them to act. Because they will not enactment if they’re not shamed publicly,” he said. “It’s a sorry observation, but that is what I’ve seen.”

There person been different high-profile cases involving cross-connections successful Montreal. In 2022, nan metropolis buried nan past 200 metres of nan St-Pierre River, which erstwhile flowed from Mount Royal into nan St. Lawrence River.

The past surviving agelong of nan stream ran done a play people successful Montreal’s westbound end, but a tribunal ordered nan metropolis to divert nan waterway because of contamination from bad sewer connections successful 2 adjacent neighbourhoods. Environmentalists decried nan determination to erase nan stream alternatively of fixing nan problem.

The metropolis estimates location are 450 to 500 properties successful Montreal that still person sewer cross-connections, aliases astir 0.1 per cent of properties connected nan island.

David Fletcher, vice-president of nan Green Coalition, said developers historically weren’t “particularly scrupulous” astir sewer connections.

“It’s only since … group want to usage nan statement beforehand that this became a existent issue,” he said.

In nan 1960s, erstwhile nan description was built astatine Terry Fox Elementary School, astir of nan city’s sewage was discharged untreated into waterways. Montreal’s wastewater curen works only opened successful nan 1980s.

But these days, Fletcher said, nan nonaccomplishment to resoluteness cross-connections often comes down to “political procrastination.” And he said it’s clip for nan contamination successful Pierrefonds-Roxboro to beryllium stopped.

“I deliberation it’s been agelong capable now,” he said. “At a definite point, personification has to wound nan bullet, walk nan money and do it.”