Elli

http://www.martlet.ca/archives/040401/news4.html

Walking turd calls for sewage treatment

by Jeb Gordon

A seven-foot tall poop man has hit the streets of Victoria to lobby for a new sewage treatment plant.

Mr. Floatie mingled with the crowds last Monday at UVic?s Ecological Footprint Day to raise awareness for his group, People Opposed to Outflow Pollution, but turned off a few bystanders unwilling to get close to a giant feces man, real or not. ?A few people don?t want to hug it,? said Terry Bieman, a.k.a. Mr. Floatie, referring to his velvety brown costume.

POOP is trying to raise funds to build a primary sewage treatment plant for the Capital Region, said Bieman.

They are hoping Mr. Floatie will attract attention to their cause. ?Many of us have been involved in serious environmental campaigns before and didn?t want to do that again,? said Bieman.

The idea behind the POOP: Birth of a Movement campaign and its spokesman Mr. Floatie is to approach activism with humor.

POOP is trying to raise $98 million for a sewage treatment plant that would cover both the Clover and Macaulay Points outfalls. There are eight outfall points in the capital region. The outfalls on the Saanich Peninsula, Gulf Islands and Port Renfrew all receive secondary treatment, with some of the Gulf Islands outfall receiving primary treatment.

Primary treatment is akin to a large sieve, a one step process that removes the main contaminants. Secondary treatment is a multi-stage process. POOP is pushing for primary treatment in Victoria.

The two outfalls at Macaulay and Clover Points have remained relatively unchanged since they were moved into deeper water and farther from shore in 1971 and 1981 respectively. These outfalls account for almost 85 per cent of the region?s liquid waste and neither has any form of sewage treatment.

According to the Capital Regional District?s (CRD) Liquid Waste Management Plan, the cost of a primary treatment plant to handle the waste at Macaulay and Clover Points would be just over $100 million. The cost would be split evenly between the federal, provincial and regional governments. To cover the regional portion an average property tax increase of $162 would be needed in the municipalities served by the plant.

Sewage treatment is expensive. The Saanich Peninsula Treatment Plant at Bazan Bay cost $20 million, and the secondary treatment plant?s maximum capacity is about 35 per cent of the volume that passes Macaulay and Clover Points.

At present the CRD has no plans to proceed with building a treatment plant for the Macaulay or Clover Point outfalls. The Liquid Waste Management Plan, approved in 2000 by the provincial government, required some changes, but does not require the construction of a treatment plant unless the newly-revised limits on sewage discharge are reached.

In the meantime, the CRD hopes to find new technologies to use in sewage treatment. One of the CRD?s concerns is the size of the plant needed. ?We are doing some pilot projects based on some technology not commonly used in North America,? said Bob Warman from CRD Environmental Services. ?It is being used in some Scandinavian countries.?

The pilot projects will test newer technologies that are smaller than conventional treatment plants. The test will run until the end of this year.

The inaction on the part of the CRD is something that POOP wishes to highlight in their campaign, said Bieman.

POOP will hold a public meeting and information session on April 1 at UVic in Fraser 159 at 7:30 p.m.

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Ironhorse

Heh, funny

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NaughtyJenn

first thing that came to mind was "mr.hankypoo" from south park lol

erehwon

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Money NEVER $leep$...

pimplink

I will not go near that giant feces!

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