It is discouraging that the politicians are ignoring the research of the oceanographic scientists at the University of Victoria.
They pointed out that there are only two or three other places on the planet that have the water temperature and currents of the Strait of Juan de Fuca that make secondary treatment unnecessary. The “bottom feeders” out in the Strait do it for us, instead of purchased bacteria in a facility on the land.
The ecology of the Strait is very healthy. I am tired of Washington State bullying us by saying we dump raw sewage into the Strait. This is far from the case.
I know it is too late to have politicians change their minds and educate the public both here and in Washington. We are obviously at “low risk,” but the CRD did not even ask for a deferral. At the New Years Levee this year at Esquimalt Town Hall, I was talking to two of the councillors and they agreed that additional sewage treatment was unnecessary. When I said just vote against it, they said, “we have a deadline.”
If decisions are made that way, it is no wonder government is so inefficient.
Carole Smith
Esquimalt