To: Mayor and Council
Sent: Tuesday, June 10, 2003 12:01 PM
Subject: MUNSTER HAMLET WASTEWATER - SEPROTECH/CMS

Dear Councillors:

Seprotech Systems Inc. is an Ottawa-based company specializing in advanced water and 
wastewater treatment.  We have been here in Ottawa for over twenty years and stumbled into 
the Munster wastewater controversy through the acquisition of CMS Inc. a Toronto company that 
offered it's communal wastewater solution to the City over five years ago.  We have carefully
reviewed the Munster file and have consulted with numerous specialists.  We have a number of
grave concerns with respect to this file and have identified these publicly, privately and through
the legal process.  We are once again calling upon the City to conduct an independent audit and
investigation into the situation.

We believe that the recommendation to proceed with a pipeline is based on a seriously flawed evaluative
process and that the cost of implementing a pipeline solution is at least three times that of an 
on-site solution.

We draw your attention to the handbook "Communal Sewage Systems" by the Ontario Ministry of
the Environment.  This handbook refers to several of the Seprotech/CMS installations amongst
those of other on-site system providers. A quote from the handbook:  "The use of communal
sewage treatment and disposal systems allows for better protection of the environment and public
health."

The documentation surrounding the  Munster matter is as technically complex as it is voluminous.
It is more than a full-time job to read and comprehend the tens-of-thousands of pages of 
documentation relating to this matter.  The following is a brief summary of our major concerns:

• The City was directed by the OMB to perfect its case for a pipeline.
  The City hired R.V. Anderson to prepare a report.  That report recommended
  on on-site solution.  The pipeline recommendation by City Staff and
  Environmental Services Committee is a 180 degree departure with the
  recommendations of the consultants report.  Under no circumstances can the
  City be considered to be conforming with either the spirit, intent or order
  of the OMB were Council to proceed with a pipeline.
  

• The City retained R.V. Anderson to seek clarification to several points
  in their Dec 2002 report.  Seprotech was directed by City Staff to provide
  additional information to R.V. Andersons' sub-consultant XCG.  Our company
  made a trip to Toronto on 19 March 2003 to deliver documentation and to
  provide verbal information to XCG. None of that information was addressed in
  the R.V. Anderson technical memorandum that followed the main study.
  

• The R.V. Anderson mandate included a requirement to provide the City
  with additional information as to costs.  Seprotech was not requested to
  provide any cost information.  We did not supply any cost information.  We
  cannot understand how the consultant could make subjective cost comparisons
  in the technical memorandum without any consultation whatsoever.
  

• Seprotech has requested the City to identify an engineer who would carry
  accountability for the R.V. Anderson Technical Memorandum. There are
  several technical issues that must be certified by an engineer. Neither the
  City nor R.V. Anderson will identify an accountable engineer.
  

• Councilor Stavinga has publicly referred to on-site solutions as
  "experimental" and "pilot".  Seprotech/CMS has over 400 on-site wastewater
  treatment plants in communities throughout North America.  Every application
  has slight differences and subtleties, however, the core technology is well
  established.
  

• The cost of on-site treatment is in the range of $4,000 to $7,000 per
  home.  The cost of the pipeline by the City's own numbers is $18,000 per
  home.  The original consultant was TSH who referred to costs that equate to
  $25,000 per home.  Further, the numbers being employed by the City do not
  include dealing with rock formations on the route between Munster and
  Richmond as well as the opportunity cost of employing the ROPEC plant in
  Ottawa.  The eventual cost of implementing a pipeline solution may be in
  excess of $30,000 per home.
  

• With respect to the discharge of treated wastewater to the Jock River, a
  policy 2 watercourse in the Province of Ontario, we draw your attention to
  the fact that the amount of Phosphorous that would be discharged from our
  plant into the river is less than the background level of phosphorous in the
  river.  Accordingly, the discharge from our plant actually improves water
  quality.  We would discharge 0.03 mg/l and the level of phosphorous in the
  river ranges from a low of 0.046mg/l to 0.373mg/l.  (Source:  Jock River
  Watershed Plan Interim Report Vol 1).
  

• With respect to the time to implement an on-site solution, you should be
  aware that the construction time for a plant is about six months.  The time
  to obtain the necessary approvals should take between 2 and 4 months as the
  amendments are minor.
  

Based on the above, we recommend City Council vote against the implementation of a pipeline 
solution for Munster Hamlet and undertake an independent investigation into the matter.

Seprotech Systems Inc. sincerely regrets being cast into this role.  We are an Ottawa company
and we would rather help the City find innovative and cost-effective solutions to challenging 
environmental problems.  Our company has been helping communities throughout North America 
to save money and to meet strict environmental laws.  We would like to be able to do more in our
home town.  If you should have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at this E-Mail 
address or at my office at 613-523-1641.

 Very sincerely yours,


 Martin J. Hauschild
 Executive Vice President
 Seprotech Systems Incorporated
 Tel:  (613) 523-1641 Ext 19
 Fax:  (613) 731-0851
 Mobile:  (613) 296-4355