Residents concluded that there was absolutely no rationale for putting a high-pressure sewage forcemain through the community's shallow-well aquifer, when completely safe, MOE-approved, on-site alternatives are available to do the job, at far less cost.

The city appears to have lost all sense of acting in good faith, or of working in the public interest.

The Richmond Village Association is now fundraising in an effort to raise the money necessary to take legal action against the Munster sewer pipeline going through Richmond.

At a public meeting called by the Richmond Village Association at the Richmond Legion Hall on Monday, March 8, which was attended by a capacity crowd of about 110 people, RVA director Bruce Webster said that the RVA hopes to raise $25,000 to $30,000 for its legal challenges to the pipeline, asking that Richmond households pledge $50 to $100 each to build up the funds for the legal challenges being considered by the RVA.

Longtime Richmond residents Gary and Isabel Thompson have agreed to co-chair the fundraising effort of the RVA.

In addition to the March 8 public meeting, RVA rep­resentatives are speaking with various groups in Richmond to inform them of the situation and seek their support.

Lawyer Bob McKinley, who has volunteered to pursue a re-examination of the Munster sewer situation by the Ontario Municipal Board, working for free for the RVA, told those at the meeting that he has to file a request for reconsideration of the matter by the Ontario Municipal Board, including supporting evidence, such as affidavits and reports. The OMB will then decide if it should reconsider the matter, after which a hearing might be held.
   Mr. McKinley said that, hopefully, this can all happen within six months. He advised those at the meeting to give as much as they can afford in supporting the RVA's legal challenge fund.

RVA director Harvey Snyder told those at the meeting that from an engineering perspective, what the city is doing with regard to running a sewer forcemain through Richmond is "unconscionable" as it is putting a pipeline carrying raw sewage through an area which depends on a shallow underground aquifer for its water supply.

He said that it is the worst example of engineer­ing that he has ever seen, as it is a case of opting for a situation where there is risk, as opposed to opting for an on-site solution in Munster that poses no risk whatsoever to the Richmond aquifer.

Mr. Snyder gave a synopsis of the history of the Munster sewage situation and how the situation has gone on for a number of years as a solution has been sought. This has included a number of engineering studies, with the city finally deciding to run a sewer forcemain

from Munster through rural Goulbourn and Richmond to the sewer pumping station at Richmond.
Lawyer Bob McKinley, in his comments at the meeting, said that his study of the situation led to the conclusion that the Munster sewage problem should be handled in a dif­ferent way than through a pipeline through Richmond.
     He noted that the existing sewer forcemain which runs from the Richmond pumping station to the Eagleson Road has ruptured twice within the past seven months. He said that this information was never conveyed to members of Ottawa city council when they were making a deci­sion on the pipeline through Richmond.
    Mr. McKinley, who last year was the lawyer who successfully defended the retention of rural wards in the city, said that while in that fight he was battling for democracy and protecting it, this time he is fighting for the health and safety of a community.
    He said that it is "outrageous and not acceptable" that the Richmond community should have to fight for its health and safety in this matter of the pipeline.
    There was almost one and a half hours of questions directed to Mr. McKinley, Mr. Webster and Mr. Snyder at the meeting, seeking clarification about the possible legal actions as well as asking advice about what to do about the work now underway on Cockburn Street.

Mr. McKinley reiterated in response to one of these questions  that, in  his view, an  overwhelming amount of evidence exists which suggests that a pipeline is the wrong thing to do in this case.

However, he warned that changing the city's deci­sion is not going to be an easy or quick thing to do.
   Mr. McKinley also commented at one point in the question and answer sessions that the proposed $30,000 fundraising goal will provide a pretty slim budget when a person considerable legal work that will be involved in making a case to a Judge that there is a health risk involved in running the pipeline through Richmond.

"Litigation is not cheap", Mr. McKinley said, noting that the city will try to outspend the RVA and will try to push the organization around the courts to make it spend more money.

City of Ottawa Rideau ward councillor Glenn Brooks arrived at the meeting at 8:20 p.m. and commented that some councillors feel that they have been misled on this issue.
    "I'm on your side", he told the audience, saying that he had initially voted in support of the pipeline.

(Excerpts)
         And the pipelines still stink...