WEST NILE VIRUS ...One more health risk of lagoons.

The need for Munster residents to have all of the lagoons removed, is made much more pressing, due to the encroachment of the West Nile virus. The virus is particularly worrisome for protectors of the young, of seniors, and of all others with health challenges or compromised immune systems.

The most important, officially recommended, protection measure for property owners, (individual or municipal), is to remove all stagnant pools of water in the vicinity of private yards, school playgrounds and other outdoor activity areas. Insecticide spraying would only add to both the cost and and the risks. Munster and area residents are now expressing even stronger feelings that the City should be taking swift measures to remove the presence of the old sewage lagoons, because of their mosquito-breeding capability and because they are in much-too-close proximity to our community.

It is imperative that City staff and politicians ensure that the most vulnerable in our society are not left as victims of a bizarre game of Russian roulette.

Of the three treatment options left on the table, the snowmaking option requires lagoons, the pipeline option requires lagoons, and the mechanical treatment option does not require lagoons.

Residents are asking: "Of the 1998 search for 'new and innovative treatment technologies', that was the subject of the City's (RMOC's) Industry 'Request for Proposals' process: Which of the current options would clearly provide the lowest overall risk to residents of Munster, Rural Richmond, and Richmond Village (?)...
a.)   a snow-making process that requires mosquito-breeding lagoons, and a spray field?
b.)   a pressurized pipeline (with a history of rupturing), that requires mosquito-breeding lagoons to function, with an (H₂S-producing) 11 km. span past 140 private shallow wells, at a cost that is five times more than anything else, or,
c.)   an innovative and respected high performance mechanical treatment plant, made up of a combination of proven technologies, the individual elements of which have given years-upon-years of reliable service, is operated entirely indoors and does not need mosquito-breeding lagoons, and has the lowest capital, operation and maintenance costs?"

Even after three out of the four engineering consulting firms, hired by the municipality, have recommended AGAINST the pipeline option, the City is still trying to manipulate the selection of a pipeline. (The City has just re-hired R.V. Anderson, February 28, 2003, ---for another $50,000--- in a last-ditch attempt to get R.V. Anderson to reverse its December 16, 2002, $179,000 Study ---that recommended elimination of the pipeline option).

The City has followed a very slippery slope in its pursuit of a pipeline-lagoon configuration for Munster. Such a course, if continued, is certain to cause further redress at the OMB (e.g.: under Section 43), and in the courts ...adding to more delays, more sewage trucking, and extended risks. There is something morally bankrupt (and depictive of bad faith dealings), when City officials (staff and politicians) put out a tender call (in the form of a Request for Proposals) for "new and innovative wastewater treatment technologies", then use that single fact of its "newness", as the attempted means to disqualify it ...even when the individual elements of the technology are time-tested, and known to be superior, on their own.

The Council of the City of Ottawa has a fast-closing window of opportunity to make things right: to make a decision that is both fair and honest, that is nurturing to the environment, that protects the groundwater serving 140 private shallow wells of rural and Richmond residents, and now: by removing the lagoons, can offer Munster an added level of protection from an otherwise elevated risk of West Nile virus.

Let's hope that integrity and reason will prevail with the individual members of Council, in this matter, which ---due to the entry of the West Nile Virus--- could now become a matter of "life-or-death" importance to certain residents.

"Reducing the mosquito population is the main answer. The biggest and clumsiest weapon against the mosquito population is spraying or "fogging" of Malathion insecticide to kill adult mosquitoes. The trouble with this technique is that it kills all kinds of insects, must be done repeatedly, and -- even if some federal government scientists insist that it's perfectly safe -- causes breathing problems for many people. As the City of Ottawa's debate over pesticides made clear, there are many Ottawa residents who have environmental sensitivities, and become very ill when pesticides are sprayed.

A better tactic is prevention. Start a city-wide campaign to eliminate standing pools of stagnant water: whether they be in the thousands of swimming pool covers (just open the pool early,) a pool of stagnant water in a birdbath or any pool of water that accumulates on a piece of outdoor furniture."

Update: July 10, 2004:

Does anyone at City Hall really care?

West Nile-suspect crow found dead at roadside adjacent to Munster lagoons.

City lagoon attendants repeatedly passed dead crow for two days without reporting it to West Nile bird collection staff.

July 10, 2004

“Typical city efficiency”: Create the lagoon conditions that harbour West Nile mosquito proliferation, then when the city-caused conditions produce a suspect WN-positive, dead bird at the high-risk, city-owned site …simply ignore it.

One wonders, “how many dead crows are lying around within the fenced portion of the 13 Hectare, city-owned lagoon property?”

The city’s website states the following:

Dead crow, suspected of harbouring West Nile virus, was ignored by city staff for two days. Finally, a local resident reported it to city.

Another important part of the surveillance program rests with the public. If you find an adult dead crow, phone the City of Ottawa at 613-724-4122 ext. 26138. Please leave your name and number. Someone will call you back about the specific details. In most cases, pick up will be by the following day. Dead adult crows can be an indicator that the virus has reached the area because crows are the most susceptible to the virus.

(or presumably inspected) the sewage effluent run-off volumes discharging to the Copeland Road ditch ...then pouring into the nearby Jock River, as daily over-spraying continues.

After waiting two days for city staff to do their civic duty by collecting the crow for testing, or at least reporting it, a local resident did just that. The pick up request was filed at the city’s

The dead crow was left at the edge of Copeland Road, in the area immediately adjacent to the city’s sewage lagoon property, while city staff drove by it two or three times daily, as they inspected

telephone answering line at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, July 9^th, 2004.

What happens next will be reported on this webpage.

Incidents, such as this, keep reminding us just how disinterested (or incompetent) some city officials (and other government agencies) can be, concerning the protection of our health.

The lagoons could have been eliminated ---altogether--- by selecting the less-expensive, on-site, mechanical treatment system for Munster ---that does not require lagoons. (The forcemain scheme requires year-round lagoon use, in order to barely function over such a distance.)
The rural residents, and Richmond residents who depend on shallow wells for their drinking water would not have to worry about their family-safety, if someone cared enough at City Hall, to avoid putting a sewage forcemain through their acquifer.
What is the Mayor up to, in all of this? (http://www.ottawasewergatefiasco.com/chiarelli-lk-031028.htm)
Where is the ward councillor? Why is she conspiring with the Mayor, instead of doing her job: protecting her constituents' interests?
Where is the Chief Medical Officer, who is supposed to protect the health of Ottawa residents? (http://www.ottawasewergatefiasco.com/cushman-031216.htm)

...and, beyond the city:

Where is the MOE, who is supposed to take the final and ultimate responsibility for "water source protection" ... if it is worth anything at all. How many Walkertons does it take, to wake up the Ministry to its responsibility?