Sewage dumped in river puts city officials in hot water
KAMLOOPS – Not only was there a sewage spill last year, but the city did not let residents know about it.
Residents learned yesterday, May 12, the city dumped two olympic swimming pools worth of sludge into the South Thompson River last year.
“It was a mistake," Public Works Director Jen Fretz says, noting not only was it a mistake the sewage was spilled, but also that the public was not notified.
It was the city’s understanding after alerting the Ministry of the Environment to the spill, the ministry would then contact stakeholders. It was not until much later the city realized the public was not aware of the situation.
Fretz says there is a 'fine line' to tread as to what information is released and what isn’t. The city relied on Interior Health and the ministry to determine what was required.
“This is not allowed to happen,” Fretz says.
The processes that were previously in place were not followed which led to the spillage. She says this is a case of staff negligence. She says those who needed to be held accountable, were but because of confidentially concerns she cannot say who these people are or what action was taken against them.
“We certainly wouldn’t stand for that at all,” Fretz says when asked if the city attempted to cover their mistakes.
She adds the city has taken numerous steps to ensure nothing like this would happen again.
Fretz says at some point errors occur and hopes residents continue to trust in the city processes.
“We have learned from our mistakes.”
The city has committed $20,000 towards rehabilitation work on Tranquille River to improve fish habitat and another $8,000 towards sewer alarm enhancements as a result of the incident.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Dana Reynolds at dreynolds@infonews.ca or call 250-819-6089. To contact an editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
13 responses
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Downstream users (for example Ashcroft who takes its drinking water from the river) MUST be told of this sort of thing, what a sleezy coverup and as for the Mayor, would he care to elucidate what WORSE things are in the river?
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Claire, this was a follow up story with a link to our original post—straight from the City of Kamloops—which might have some details you are looking for. We expect an update later today but not everyone is so forthcoming.
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The story says the city “dumped” the sewage in the river. Then it says the sewage was spilled. Which is it? There is a difference. One is deliberate, the other accidental. Either way there should have been a public warning telling where the sludge went and how long it was a danger to public health.
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The worst part about all this is the whole thing will get washed under a rug. Someone should be axed from city hall and the whole administration should get reworked. We have clowns that work for the city. Someone dropped the ball and nobody will pay the repercussions of it.
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They should be paying the residents affected that kind of money instead of acting like they are doing something about it with tax payers own money.. agree with Brian.
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like they know exactly that it was only two swimming pools worth..yah right…and milobar down plays it by saying “there are whose things in the water”, what the smart ass doesn’t comprehend is that its concentrated, any one happened to be in the wrong place and the wrong time is going to get a mouth full. its one thing for it to happen [we can address the lack of competence later]its another NOT to inform public. even today they will not release when it happened.the other criminal in this debacle is MOE who constantly hold themselves above the law. they were the only ones informed. one would think a multi billion corporation like THE CITY OF KAMLOOPSwould have a protocol for just such an emergency instead of trying to hide it from public and then flushing it down the storm drains. real professional eh.
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This really does NOT tell the entire story. Where did this ‘sludge’ enter the river? How did this enter the river? Date? Time? Come on, people. This is not reporting.
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this is bullshit! the motherfuckers responsible for NOT informing the public should loose their jobs! unaccountable fucktards! nahhhh, gov assholes above the law…not possible.
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In other words, The taxpayer is paying to clean up the cities mistakes and the taxpayer is not allowed to know who screwed up.Doesn’t surprise me that the city would try to take credit for fixing up it’s own mistakes.
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