|
Ottawa's
'Sewer-Gate'
Fiasco (in Munster) |
The City's
mismanagement of Munster's Wastewater servicing, inside
manipulation, abuse of public trust,
and the reckless waste of taxpayer's money is so serious, that
it cries out for a Provincial Forensic Audit.
|
HISTORY: OVER 10 YEARS OF BUNGLING |
|
|
|
While
60% of the Lagoon's contents "disappear"
before reaching the spray field, the
City
has
wasted over
$15,000,000 in
hauling fees,
conflicting engineering studies,
and
other digressions, and not one sod has
been turned, for a solution to |
2.jpg) |
|
the problem.i
Where will it end?
more... |
|
CITY SHOULD ELIMINATE MUNSTER'S
LAGOONS
FOR COST AND HEALTH REASONS ...ESPECIALLY
WITH THE NEW THREAT OF THE WEST NILE VIRUS?
April 4, 2003 Update:
Because of the City's reluctance to candidly disclose the politically
sensitive matter:
that the pipeline option
requires continuous lagoon use, the public has
been kept in the
dark on the fate of these
mosquito-breeding cesspools.
more...
|
"The use of communal sewage treatment and
disposal systems allows for better protection of
the environment and public health."
Ontario Ministry of the Environment.
|
WHAT COUNCIL ASKED FOR:
1.)
Improve
the level of treatment.
2.)
Guarantee to meet the (MOE)
compliance schedule.
3.)
Guarantee the cost.
more...
March
11/98 Motion of Council
|
|
WHAT THE "REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS" (RFP) ASKED
FOR:
Design/build proposals (with
guaranteed pricing),
for
advanced treatment
of
effluent, satisfactory for either:
1.)
Land
application, or
2.) Subsurface disposal to groundwater
system,
or
3.) Water course discharge (i.e., to the
Jock
River).
(No
pipeline!)
RFP Advertisement - Ottawa Citizen
Excerpts from the (RFP) Documents
RFP
VIOLATIONS
●
The City accepted non-compliant pipeline
bids.
●
The Bidders' guaranteed prices were tampered
with, and
released to the public, without consulting the
bidders.
●
Inaccurate information about the Bidders'
technologies,
was put before the public.
●
Insufficient effort was made, in several
instances, to get
accurate information that was necessary for a
valid
evaluation.
Advertisement - Request for Proposals |
|
THE
"UNSOLICITED"
PIPELINE BIDDER WHO
WAS SOLICITED
Taggart request for extension of deadline
Taggart Letter, February 16/99 |
PUBLIC
LIAISON COMMITTEE (PLC) WAS A SHAM
Committee credibility and transparency was
tainted by
manipulation from Goulbourn Mayor, and City
Staff.
It's an oxymoron to call it a "Public"
Liaison Committee,
then bar the 'Public' from attending
the proceedings. But that's the least of
it's credibility problems.
more...
Purpose of the Provincial Planning Act: "To provide for planning processes
that are fair by making them open,
accessible, timely and efficient."
Provincial Planning Policy.
|
|
|
|
MUNSTER
RESIDENTS WERE DUPED |
into thinking
they were
rid of the Lagoons...
Expert
Engineering Evidence at the OMB Hearing showed
that |
 |
the
pipeline option requires year-round use
of lagoons, to avoid line from clogging.
more...
|
|
"Implement pollution prevention measures at sources
where practical."
Regional
Official Plan.
|
"Preserve the integrity of natural systems by
directing land use and development in a way that
maintains ecosystem functions over time."
Goal: 1.4.8, of the Regional Official Plan. |
IN THE
EVALUATION MATRIX...
if the cost of the
pipeline, alone
--- HAD BEEN DISCLOSED--- it would have placed
the pipeline
---dead
last---
at the bottom of the Matrix.
Totten Simms Hubicki cost estimate- Feb/98
|
MORE
ON THE EVALUATION MATRIX
a jumble of double meanings, convoluted
interpretations, missed criteria, subjective
weightings, and public confusion:
Not
very scientific!
more...
“If
the methodology used in selecting the
pipeline alternative is found to be
deficient, then the choice of the pipeline
alternative founded upon such a deficient
methodology is inappropriate.
”Mr.
N.M. Katary, P.Eng. (Chair
of the OMB Hearing):
|
|
THE ONTARIO
MUNICIPAL BOARD DECISION
OMB told the City to
STOP THE
PIPELINE WORK, and do the evaluation
correctly! City can't take
"No"
for an answer, and
defies the
OMB to this day.
more...
Decision - (Full Text) - PDF File Download
|
"The
Board prefers the evidence of the land use
planner called by the appellant because they
were rooted in a thorough understanding of the
land use planning implications of the proposed
amendment."
N.M. Karary, Chair of OMB Hearing
|
YOUR
FEEDBACK IS IMPORTANT
Every
segment of our society is adversely affected
by the breakdown of accountability and
integrity, with so many of our
municipal bureaucrats and elected officials.
This site addresses serious 'dysfunction'
in the hugely expensive area of
wastewater infrastructure management.
We welcome your ideas, suggestions, or any
other participation, to help solicit higher
levels of governance and/or jurisprudence to
address these issues, as they just continue
to worsen.
CONTACT
US |
RESIDENTS KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
$3-M and
$17-M,
and how
Munster's cumulative costs are quickly
spiraling up to $30M. But,
instead
of curbing
wasteful spending,
the City simply short-changes
worthy causes, or whines for
more Grant support, and user-fees.
Pipeline Cost Estimate: $16.3 Million
in 1998
City grapples with $25M shortfall
City manager forecasts $1.5-billion
shortfall
YET, THE CITY ---IN ITS HYPOCRISY---
CRIES POOR,
when it wastes more than five times
the tax dollars it should, on
wastewater servicing!
|
"Everywhere the imprint of human
beings has been stamped on the land in
mathematical precision that pays no
attention to geographic and biological
realities. We act as if our political
subdivisions of the land are
meaningful and fail to observe the
realities of 'bio-regions' ecosystems
and watersheds to which living things
have evolved and fit"
Dr. David Suzuki: "Time to Change"
(p. 158). |
| |
LINK TO VISITORS' COMMENTS:
CLICK HERE
| |
 |
Presented to this website in
recognition of:
"your work towards a
better Internet and Mankind..." |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
NEWEST
INFORMATION & BREAKING NEWS: |
WHEN
INTEGRITY AND DUE PROCESS IN GOVERNMENT
BREAK DOWN
August
2004
more...
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
OFFICE OF CHIEF MEDICAL HEALTH
OFFICER NOT
ADDRESSING HEALTH THREAT
May 11/04:
more |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CITY'S PIPELINE COSTING FOUND BOGUS
more
|
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
|
MAYOR AND COUNCILLORS INVITED TO TAKE
"SANITY CHECK"
over
their risky forcemain plan.
more
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
COUNCIL RATIFIES STAVINGA/STAFF-LED
"FRAUD" AGAINST OMB RULING & PUBLIC INTEREST:
more...
"Something
smells about this process, and it's not just the
sewage!" - Councillor Rainer Bloess at City Council
Meeting, June 11, 2003.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
|
STAVINGA LEADS ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITTEE TO SUPPORT
FALSIFIED STAFF REPORT: REVIVING
PIPELINE WITH BOGUS DATA May 27,
2003
more...
|
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OMB-ORDERED,
THIRD
EVALUATION ELIMINATES CITY'S PIPELINE-LAGOON OPTION
AT MUNSTER
December
17, 2002:
On-site treatment recommended:
more...
...WHILE CITY KEEPS
SPENDING ON PIPELINE:
more |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OBJECTIVE ANALYSIS
OF ALTERNATIVES MAKES REJECTION OF PIPELINE SEEM OBVIOUS:
November 25, 2002:
All
objective
evaluations to date have identified clear rationales
for a modern on-site treatment system, at Munster.
The Pipeline/Lagoon option has far too many negatives.
more…
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
COUNCILLOR'S GARBLED
ATTEMPT TO DISCREDIT WEBSITE BACKFIRES
November
21, 2002:
more... |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CITY DELIVERS MUNSTER A FOUL PREVIEW OF WHAT'S IN
STORE
...if stuck with the
pipeline-lagoon option. October 30, 2002:
more... |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RESULTS
OF (JULY) RICHMOND
SURVEY:
August 14, 2002:
Clear
message sent: Munster pipeline is too risky. Public
wants a treatment plant in Munster, to keep water in
the watershed, and benefit the environment.
more...
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MAJOR SEWAGE
FORCEMAIN BREAK IN RICHMOND
June 19, 2002:
"If a
brand new section of pipeline ---just a few dozen
metres in length--- ruptures TWICE, in its first
seven months, imagine the risk created by an 11-km,
high-pressure forcemain span through the Fen,
and past 140 homes with shallow wells!"
more... |
|
RECENT
CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS: |
SUPERIOR COURT
FINDS AGAINST CITY
October 29, 2001: The
City's
fourth attempt to nullify the work of the OMB
---this time, in the form of a Superior Court
challenge, requesting "Leave to Appeal" the OMB
Decision, in Divisional Court, was
turned down
by Justice Panet.
more...
CITY
APPOINTS R. V. ANDERSON TO DO
THIRD
EVALUATION
February
26, 2002: The results of the City's ---already
tainted--- closed selection process for an
evaluator to do its "$50,000" re-evaluation, turns
up a former consultant on the Munster wastewater
issue: R.V. Anderson for a sweet $162,827.
more...
Environmental Committee Meeting - Feb 26/02
COUNCILLOR "KNOWS" PREDETERMINED SOLUTION
February 27, 2002:
Is
Councillor Munter confirming his prior knowledge of
a pipeline 'FIX'?
more...
INCORRECT
STATEMENTS MADE TO PRESS
March 2, 2002:
Councillor Stavinga and Brian Gray, P.Eng, are
challenged on inaccuracies reported in newspaper.
more...
PREDICTOR FOR MUNSTER:
March
30, 2002. Two recent spills at Richmond Lagoons.
more...
73% OF MUNSTER
HOUSEHOLDS FILL OUT SURVEY
April 5, 2002:
The
highest sampling conducted so far.
Survey Results
April 29, 2002:
Background Information Bulletin
I |
OTTAWA
HOLDS THE TITLE AS
"THE SECOND
WORST POLLUTER OF WATER IN ONTARIO"
---POLLUTION
WATCH
|
The
Canadian Institute for Environmental Law and
Policy along with the Canadian Environmental Law
Association and the Canadian Environmental Defence Fund have identified the City of
|
 |
Ottawa's own wastewater treatment centre, in
Gloucester, as
the
second worst municipal polluter of water in
Ontario ...and deteriorating.
|
|
Upstream view of Ottawa River at the Greens
Creek sewage outlet in centre of watercourse.
(CLICK
HERE to enlarge)
Photograph by Dan Brunton -
August, 1991 |
|
|
|
WATER
CRISIS CAUSED BY IGNORANCE, GREED
An opportunity
to turn the
environmental problem of Munster's wastewater
treatment
into a
panacea for this aquatic habitat, is ignored
by the City.
CLICK HERE
"Water transfers between different watersheds
and
different jurisdictions should be banned
outright"
Canadian Institute for Environmental Law and
Policy (CIELAP) |
INTIMIDATION OF A WITNESS
When
a powerful company uses its might, (and
misuses the Courts), to suppress evidence,
by litigating against an ordinary Citizen,
who has important evidence against that
company: it's called a "SLAPP Action"
(Strategic Litigation Against Public
Participation).
While
the City of Ottawa, defiantly, speeds ahead
with its plans for a Pipeline-Lagoon System
for Munster ---the City's hired
Consultant has sued an ordinary
Ratepayer, for
$4,200,000,
in
order to suppress his
evidential PROOF of a
'Pipeline Fix'.
more...
SLAPP
Actions |
|
|
|
ENGINEERING ETHICS-101:
This
professionally-written paper on municipal
request for bids, is a 'must read' for
every Citizen concerned by the
questionable practices currently
conducted in municipal engineering contracts.
The paper's recommendations should be
considered the 'minimum standard' of
any Engineering firm, desirous of improving
the integrity, credibility and ethics of both
their own companies, and of the Engineering
Profession, itself. Even further: these
recommendations should be strictly enforced
by the Provincial Municipal Act, and by the
various Professional Engineering Societies.
View Full Paper...
|
RICHMOND FEN
Franktown Road...
City's planned pipeline route puts Fen at
risk.
CLICK HERE |
 |
|
| | | |
