Cranbrook’s Waste Water Management System Background Information

It is a very good thing that Cranbrook’s Waste Water Management Program is being updated. However just because 14 million, now 19 million tax dollars and infrastructure grants are being poured into these upgrades, it does not mean all problems will completely or immediately go away. The public has good reason to question and ask for clear communication and information and the following may explain why.

There are ongoing concerns some of which to the ordinary person would seem relatively easy to solve. Some on the other hand are understandably much more complex and will cost a great deal more money. Council may take comfort in recent correspondence from the Ministry and its many paid experts now constructing the upgrades but it is interesting to recall the words contained within the Environmental Hearing Board’s Report. These experts we must remember, were not hired by the city, or asked to work with the city, but were appointed as impartial experts to give educated opinions and direction on the level limit of effluent contained in Lagoon #2. The City was appealing the decision and former direction given to them to maintain the level below 824 metres above sea level. (CPR had suffered slides on its tracks closest to the lagoon and it was felt leaking effluent could possibly be the cause) Part of the Appeal Hearings involved learning about the state of Cranbrook’s Waste Water Management Program.

Ref. 84 from the Environmental Hearing Report of 2009

In reference to Cranbrook’s Waste Water Management System

While conceptually acceptable, the implementation by Cranbrook has been far from acceptable. What this panel has determined is that components of the sewage treatment system have been seriously flawed for many years and that Cranbrook has done very little to correct them. For reasons not clear, the Ministry has not enforced its Permit. The Panel had hoped for a presentation from Cranbrook that would demonstrate a determination to find an engineered solution but what the Panel received can only be considered ‘too little too late’. While compliance and enforcement of the Permit are not the responsibility of the Board, non-compliance and non-enforcement, have been so overwhelmingly consistent that the perception from the evidence before this Panel is that Cranbrook has been ‘thumbing its nose’ at the regulators.

Part of this passage was quoted in a local paper at the time of the report’s release. While many residents in the area had concerns before this report, many more had concerns after its publication.

Considering the above information and the fact that the current council is the same council, (many of whom were members of former councils), that received this assessment, the public has good reason to expect ongoing clear informative communication about the state of the upgrades and how their tax dollars are being spent.