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Results of
Petition Letter to Bob Chiarelli,
Chair, Regional Municipality of
Ottawa-Carleton
The matter of the (Feb 23/98) Petition's request for an
"adequate
evaluation of the advanced
'treatment'
technologies",
went before Committee and Council in early March of 1998
(See:
March
11/98 Motion of Council).
(Note Chiarelli's negative vote)
The motion passed on the basis of the
following fundamental requirements being met, in comparison
with the previously preferred option ---only--- (of an expanded
lagoon and spray irrigation system). For any new technologies to be
considered, the requirements were that, they had to:
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1.)
Improve the level of
treatment.
2.)
Guarantee to meet the (MOE)
compliance schedule.
3.)
Guarantee the cost.
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Regional Chair Bob Chiarelli, who
voted against the motion, received a strong rebuke in the Stittsville
Weekend Signal, for breaking his election promise to
Munster Residents. The March 15, 1998 issue of
"The Stittsville Weekend Signal" under the
title of
"Rising Doubts",
wrote the following (excerpted) Editorial:
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"Once
again the integrity of politicians is in question.
...For reasons known only to him and his close
advisors, Chiarelli dismissed the knowledge that there are
new and more up to date technologies available that may, in
fact, meet all the requirements.
In doing so he has gone
back on his promise to the people of Munster that he would
work hard to achieve the best possible solution. This, once
again, raises doubts in the minds of citizens about the
credibility of campaign promises." |
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Mr. Chiarelli's
negative vote, was over-ruled (15 to 3), by the Council vote.
Mr. Chiarelli then sent a letter back to Munster, dated April
1, 1998, stating the
following:
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"Re: Munster Hamlet Wastewater
Treatment
Thank you for forwarding to my office the petition
signed by residents of Munster Hamlet expressing concerns with
the proposed plan for rehabilitation of the wastewater
treatment lagoons.
Please be advised that on 11
March 1998 Council directed staff to retain an independent
consultant to reassess the preferred alternative identified in
the Environmental Study Report (expanded treatment lagoons and
spray irrigation) in comparison with other technologies
and proposals that can meet the requirements of
improving the level of
treatment, can
guarantee to meet the (MOE)
compliance schedule and
can reduce the cost of the project.
Consultation with the residents of Munster Hamlet will be an
integral part of this process.
I trust that this action will begin to address the
concerns raised in the petition.
Sincerely yours,
Bob Chiarelli
Regional Chair"
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(Highlighting added.)
Final Note:
Had the Motion of
Council, (and this
second promise, in Mr. Chiarelli's letter), been fulfilled,
Munster's Wastewater Treatment problems would have been resolved in 1998,
and a treatment plant in operation by September of 1999.
However,
with a chain of maneuvers of questionable intent, and legality, (causing
this issue to be the subject of the current litigation, and this Website),
the City solicited, non-compliant
pipeline bids, which it then placed ahead of the compliant treatment
technology-bidder who won the formal Request For Proposals (RFP) tendering. By
underhandedly substituting their pipeline/lagoon
non-compliant preference,
in place of the onsite treatment technology, the City would be causing the
following negative impacts to occur:
1.) Piping of Munster's sewage to the ROPEC Treatment Centre would result in a degraded level of
treatment, (with final
output of 30X more Phosphorus and 10X more E-Coli). That is far inferior
to the RFP specifications, and capability of the
advanced (on-site) treatment technology, that was to be located at Munster,
and that
residents had asked for.
2.) The
(MOE) compliance schedule of
one year, has past, and it is now
four
additional years beyond, as of March, 2003.
3.) The
capital cost of the City's pet project ---at $17 Million---
would be more than five times the
cost of the advanced
treatment solution!
(Total capital cost of the
pipeline, with the additional, current expenses to date (of $12,700,000),
on wasted engineering studies, sewage hauling costs, OMB cost ---plus the
City's challenges to the OMB decision, and legal expenses: would add up
close to the
$30,000,000-figure.)
The City's selection of a pipeline/lagoon combination
contravenes over twenty Official Plan provisions, alone, and
bears no
resemblance to what
Munster residents initially requested. Implementation of the City's poorly
thought-out scheme, with all of its environmental risks and detriments,
hazards to human health, and City's flouting of the rules, could keep this
matter before the Courts for another ten years.
(Ottawa
Citizen, March 4/02, "Point of View":
CLICK HERE)
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