Oh Poop! (Possibly Unnecessary Primary Sewage Treatment Coming Soon To A Neighbourhood Near You?)

Short Version (The Essentials)

Politics triumphs over science and common sense.
Michael McDonald, Sr. VP, Methanex

Rafe Mair's Axiom of Subsidiarity, perfectly suited to this situation: Lesser politicians should always, without fail, beware of gifts coming from higher levels of governments.

Uninformed Statements Made About Lantzville and Sewers
"literally a cesspool"; "criminally overdue" - Marnie Taylor, Nanaimo Daily Free Press Feb. 8/96
"sewage running in our ditches"; "sick to death" - local resident, Nanaimo News Bulletin May 13/96

* not one 'expert' has been able to state what percentage of our individual fecal coliform counts are due to failed septic systems [from human, as compared to animal (dogs, cats, deer, birds, seals, etc.) feces] and many of these 'experts' are in a conflict of interest situation in the first place - they build sewage systems!
* it is very unlikely that we have "untreated sewage seep(ing) and leach(ing) directly into roadside ditches", since some treatment occurs in the septic tank (removing 40% of the TSS, 60% of the BOD and 5-10% of the pathogens). While the claim of untreated/raw sewage is made several times in the District's grant application, not one shred of evidence is provided to support it!
* over a recent 9 - 10-year period, only 60 failed septic systems in Lantzville have been ordered repaired by local Health officials so you might well wonder why they would rather support a sewer system than seeking out and correcting any problems
* according to a report issued by a senior VIHA environmental officer, "(r)epairs to individual failed onsite sewage systems can be made in almost every situation" and "(p)roperly designed, installed and maintained onsite systems should be able to work indefinitely."
* sewers, even under the most optimistic schedule, would take years to reach some of the denser areas where we have some failing/failed septic systems
* since there are numerous, cost-effective solutions to failed septic systems, doesn't it make sense that we find and fix any problems now instead of at least $20 million (2006$) being spent over the next 10 years to sewerize much of Lantzville? Even if the rest of us had to share in the cost to 'get it done', it would still likely be cheaper than sewers, in both financial and social terms.
* it will cost each property $77/yr at today's rates to partially replace (33%) the moisture which will now be flushed out into the Strait (assuming we even have that replacement water!). This does NOT take into account the nutrients which will be lost.
* infrastructure grants are an inefficient and highly 'politicized' way of spending taxpayers' money
* sewers are almost always for development, not you and I, and, since they drive development, will forever and markedly change the essence of our community! Sewers serve to drive density relentlessly upwards and, once they're started, they can't easily be undone (that initial cost will be too great to abandon)!
* there is nothing "green" (OCP, Sec. 4.2.5) about Lantzville connecting to the RDN 'enhanced' primary treatment plant, which flushes all the moisture and some of the nutrients out into Georgia Strait
While only Mayor Haime and his wife, Councillor Denise Haime, by virtue of their ownership of a downtown office building, will be directly affected by Council's decisions on Phase 1 sewers, a cost which I would assume that they can write off, Councillor Brian Dempsey could, as soon as more water becomes available, apply for an 'out-of-sequence' connection from this area (the easement already exists) to service his 5-acre 'farm' on Owen Road and, thereby, be in a position to apply to subdivide.
I'm calling upon all residents of Lantzville to become engaged in the conversation and ask the tough questions of Council and staff, using your common sense as your guide. Ask yourselves what possible motive concerned residents like myself could have for investing so much time and effort to research and publish relevant information. Then ask yourselves why Council and some individuals aren't interested in a fair, frank and open discussion of the issues. This thing we call 'democracy' is very fragile and requires constant nurturing in order for it to survive and truly serve the people and not some special interest agenda. Are YOU up to the challenge?!