City fined $5,000 for sewage spill
By Brian Hayes / Court
Reporter
Halifax Regional Municipality was fined $5,000 Friday for
spilling raw sewage into Bedford's Sandy Lake two summers ago.
The municipality also agreed to pay $2,000 of the cost of a
provincial probe into the spill and $3,000 to stock the lake
with trout.
Halifax Provincial Court Judge Hughes Randall also imposed
a 15 per cent victim fine surcharge.
HRM also agreed to notify all Sandy Lake residents of the
conviction and have the Environment Department train HRM field
employees to deal with future sewer emergencies.
The municipality was charged after a sewer pipe 25
centimetres in diameter cracked Aug. 6, 2000.
On Aug. 12, raw sewage was discovered flowing into the lake
near Giles and Hammonds Plains roads. Later that night,
municipal employee Tim Burbine arrived at a pumping station
about two kilometres from the lake and stopped the sewage flow
by diverting it to another line.
On Aug. 13 he confirmed the flow had stopped, but that same
day an Environment Department officer went to the lake after a
complaint about raw sewage.
The department estimated 14,000 to 16,000 litres of sewage
had entered the lake each day.
Mr. Burbine didn't inform his supervisor of the break until
Aug. 14. He didn't know that failing to report it to the
Environment Department was an offence.
Residents were notified of the contamination Aug. 15 and
over the next two days signs were posted prohibiting swimming
in the lake and drinking its water.
Water samples revealed a high level of fecal coliform
bacteria which, if consumed by fish, animals or humans, can
cause sickness and even death.
Although bacteria was found in dug wells, there was no
contamination in drilled wells.
A boil order was issued and the municipality supplied
bottled water to residents for at least a month. By Sept. 17,
water samples had normal readings.
bhayes@herald.ns.ca |