British Columbia has been dumping millions of gallons of raw sewage into the Strait of Juan de Fuca everyday since the 1970s and this has to stop!
Cities such as Sequim, Port Angeles and Port Townsend, on the American side of the Strait, have been treating this contaminating human waste and the outrage has prompted U.S. Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., along with six U.S. House Representatives to send an angry letter to Canada's provincial government demanding they step in and make the construction of a sewage treatment plant a top priority!
British of Columbia Prime Minister Christy Clark replied to the American representatives saying the clean up will "definitely take place," but she has yet to provide a definite plan and time table as to when this will occur.
Please join us in demanding a specific plan and timetable for clean up to be made PUBLICLY available as soon as possible! The stalling has gone on far too long!
Dear Prime Minister Christy Clark,
I am writing to urge you to immediately come forward with a concrete plan and timetable for treating raw sewage before it is dumped into the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
The Canadian government agreed to a plan in 1993 that promised a primary treatment facility would be built by 2002, and secondary treatment between 2008 and 2013. Yet it is now 2014, and raw sewage continues to be pumped into the Strait.
While we can understand that this must be a time consuming matter, this environmental issue deserves the attention that other cities have given to it. Victoria is one of the few remaining Canadian cities that does little to treat its sewage.
People who oppose the plan have claimed that feces is organic matter and can be broken down in the environment. But studies show that dumping huge volumes of sewage significantly alters natural ecosystems, leading to dangerous algae blooms and eradicating endemic species. In addition, human waste contains more than just feces; sewage water also contains chemicals from cleaning supplies, hormones from birth control, and pharmaceutical waste that can affect marine life and contaminate areas for human recreation.
While it is encouraging that you have agreed this treatment plant needs to be built, the public can no longer simply trust it will take place after the project has stalled for nearly 20 years. I urge you to immediately release concrete plans for the construction of a plant and announce a specific date by which we can expect raw sewage to stop spilling into the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
Sincerely,
