• 73% of households completed the survey
• 92% are concerned about property values
• 95% are concerned about drinking water
• 93% said they were never asked by the City to specify a preferred treatment alternative
• 97% said they were given insufficient information by the City on the alternatives
• Personal evaluation priorities in order: watershed, environment, cost, time
• 83% would have the City build an onsite plant

The survey results along with a detailed review of the Munster sewage project for the past decade were presented. The highlights of the presentation are as follows:

• Estimated expenditures on all aspects related to the project since 1992 estimated at $12.7 million. The City has refused to provide updated numbers to the public.
• City’s evaluation methodology based on Comment Sheets could not statistically determine a preferred alternative.
• Life cycle cost for onsite treatment bidder was raised 110% by the City without notification or justification. Pipeline life cycle cost was raised only 9%.
• Time to build was not considered in the City’s evaluation of alternatives.
• Richmond residents have never been informed of the actual pipeline route.
• Pipeline will require at least one active lagoon to manage the low and high flows.
• Pipeline will behave like a 12 km septic tank due to a 20 hour no-flow sitting time.
• Onsite treatment plant performance was accepted by the City and MOE as early as 1997.
• 75 year life cycle cost for pipeline is estimated to be $22.9 million.
• 75 year life cycle cost of onsite treatment plant is $5.9 million.

Sewage enters the plant from the existing No. 1 pumping station where it passes through a series of filters and cleaning systems producing near-drinkable water. Part of the process involves rotating drums or biological contactors sealed in buildings like the ones in the picture. These process the solids.

Phosphorous, that is very bad for rivers, is reduced to levels bettering MOE and City specifications using sand filtration. The water then receives an ultraviolet treatment that kills e-coli. Water released meets MOE swimming water quality standards.

The 5 lagoons would be decommissioned and turned into wetlands to attract wildlife. After a period of time the introduced plant material will digest the sludge that has accumulated over the years. Removing the material in this way presents the least threat to the local eco-system and groundwater.

What if a treatment unit breaks? The three units are monitored continuously and have very few moving parts. In the highly unlikely event that one unit fails, Munster’s total flow can easily be handled by the remaining two units.

These units are in use around the world. The most stringent environmental agency, the US EPA, recognized the effectiveness of this technology in the early 1980’s. The City and MOE endorsed the performance of this technology in 1997.

From time to time, matters arise that require immediate attention so that the momentum of the main objective – obtaining the optimum treatment alternative for Munster – can remain clearly in focus.

Councilor Stavinga attended the public meeting on April 23. When invited to speak her opening remarks were highly uncomplimentary to the organizers. She leveled accusations about not being invited to the meeting.

When her remarks were complete, she was questioned about the high priority email invitation sent to her six days before the meeting. She commented about Thursday (6 days prior to the meeting) not being enough notice now that she is not just looking after Goulbourn. It was also pointed out that she was offered an opportunity to discuss the results of Munster’s very informative survey. The content of the unanswered email sent Thursday April 18 at 10:35 am follows.

"As you may be aware, there will be a meeting regarding the Munster Wastewater Treatment project on Tuesday April 23 from 7:30-9:00 pm. I would like to extend to you an invitation to attend this meeting should your schedule allow. As the time for this meeting has only recently been solidified, it was not possible to offer this invitation with more notice.

As an independent observer of the Munster project, I have conducted a detailed study and critical analysis of the last 10 years of documents, studies, costs, council minutes, public consultations etc. I would be pleased to meet with you for a short time prior to the meeting on Tuesday should you wish to discuss some of the findings of this work."

For the good of serving the public interest, this invitation remains open.

Some discussion at the April 23 meeting centered on these themes:

• who’s behind this and are they from Munster Hamlet;
• what are they getting paid for this;
• why do Munster residents need to worry about who pays for the treatment system.
  

There is a network of individuals and organizations that are concerned about this and other City issues. The only motivation in this particular case is to ensure Munster receives the best possible treatment solution from the watershed, environment, cost and time perspectives. The cost for this work is being born 100% by the concerned individuals.

The City has created a myth that Munster households want a pipeline. They used a statistically insignificant and biased sample of 39 households to support this myth. When Munster residents were given concrete information and offered an anonymous opportunity to choose, 83% respondents chose an onsite plant.

Councilor Munter from Kanata punctuated the City’s position on CTV when he declared that the City already knows what the results of a new $180,000 study will be. In this excerpt from an email response about the reason for his CTV appearance he made it clear who’s responsibility it is to pay for Munster’s sewage treatment system:

"I believe I was asked for my comments because taxpayers from across the whole city of Ottawa have spent millions of dollars to address this issue. As Ottawa (formerly Ottawa-Carleton) taxpayers, Munster residents have covered about 0.002% of the project costs so far. As such, it is obviously more than a simple neighbourhood matter."