River contamination possible

Workers at the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake (MCK) say they have no other option than to undertake a sewage operation that could potentially require the dumping of up to 200 cubic metres of untreated sewage into the St. Lawrence River.

The operation needs to take place because of large quantities of foreign objects causing blockages in the town system, which has slowed down the sewage treatment process, said MCK’s director of Public Works, Martin Morris.

“There is no other way. We have to bypass the pit so that it goes straight into the river. It’s not something we want to do ever, but we’re truly trying to minimize the risks,” said Morris.

“It’s not pumping correctly. It’s basically like a clogged drain,” said Morris.

Right now, sewage flows into the plant and passes through a number of filters, ultimately ending up in a tank, or pit, that cleans the sewage - known as “effluent” - to ensure that no solids or contaminants are sent out into the river.

Over the years, that tank has become clogged with materials that shouldn’t be there, like mop heads, sanitary products, diapers, and wet wipes. Even the type labelled “flushable” are prone to clogging the system, Morris said.

The issue was noticed in the fall, and the plant, which is over 20 years old, has never had to complete this kind of maintenance before.

The solution will mean that Public Works has to disconnect the flow of sewage from the blocked tank and use vacuum trucks to take out the debris, a process that will be completed by a company called Sanivac, who will take the contaminants out of Kahnawake.

While the tank is disconnected, the sewage will continue to flow through a screen system that removes the bulk of solid waste, but will not be treated to remove all pollutants and bacteria.

It’s anticipated that this process will take around three to four hours, during which time that waste could flow directly into the St. Lawrence River. It’s possible, however, that if the community uses less water during that period, which is anticipated to occur on February 26, the sewage could be contained within the town’s network, staying in the sewage pipes instead of flowing out to the river.

The town’s pump stations, where sewage is gathered, will be drawn before the stoppage, which should allow as much sewage as possible to be held instead of travelling to the treatment plant where the work is taking place.

“Not having to let anything out would be best-case scenario, and it’s a strong possibility. We’re hoping residents will be very prudent with their water usage,” he said.

Bigger sewage plants often have two tanks that treat sewage, giving them a backup when one needs to be taken offline for maintenance. Morris said that without that option, there’s really nothing else that can be done.

Still, community member Joy-Marie Canadian said that she wishes there were more creative ways for Kahnawake and beyond to deal with problems like this.

“In the year 2025 I think that our community can deal with disposing of raw sewage in a more ethical way as opposed to dumping it into our Seaway,” she said.

“Are we no better than Montreal whenever they dump their raw sewage into our Seaway?”

Like many others reacting to MCK’s announcement of the operation on Facebook last week, Canadian was reminded of the uproar in 2015, when Montreal disposed of over two billion gallons (around 8 million cubic metres) of raw sewage in the St Lawrence River to repair its own sewage system.

Back then, the Kahnawake Environment Protection Office (KEPO) and community members had been involved in advocating against the dump. Patrick Ragaz, KEPO’s general manager of field science, said that though no amount of sewage entering waterways is ideal, this discharge would cause less damage.

“The river is quite resilient, and in the grand scale of things, it’s a fairly small amount,” he said.

KEPO was consulted about the work, and helped identify mitigation efforts once it became clear that the sewage diversion was necessary.

Those include completing the work in winter, when fish are generally less active, as well as ensuring the sewage being released is screened so no large garbage is entering the river.

To ensure that everything happens by the book, KEPO will also have staff monitoring the process during the work.

“As long as those pump stations don’t fill up all the way and need to be pumped, we can hold a lot of sewage until the work is done,” Ragaz said. “200 cubic metres is a worst-case estimate, and hopefully with these measures, we can get it quite a bit lower than that.”

After initial community upset, the MCK removed its press release, replacing it with a near identical one later that day. The only difference was the removal of the sentence “The MCK has submitted a request for a permit from Environment and Climate Change Canada.”

Morris said that line was an error, because according to him, MCK does not have to apply for a permit.

“This is our land, our water, we’re going to notify them of what we’re doing, so that was a miscommunication on my part,” he said. “Normally, (a permit is required), yes, but not in Kahnawake’s instance, because we decide if we’re going to do it or not, we notify them.”

MCK chief Arnold Boyer said that he wasn’t sure the details of the removal of the Environment Canada phrase, but added that the plant is very old, and updating the machinery there is something that is in the Capital Plan for the next three to four years, costing “in the neighbourhood of 30 or $40 million.”

“Every few years there’s a couple of extra houses being added onto the system,” he said. “I’m not sure if 25 years ago the system was designed to pick up today’s level of output.”

He said that plans are only in the preliminary stages for a new plant.

“It’s on target to be replaced. Everybody knows at the table that this is at the end of its life cycle, and it has to be planned,” he said.

Environment and Climate Change Canada did not respond to The Eastern Door’s request for comment by deadline.

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