By Debbie Silva
Continuing problems with the storm sewer system in the LeBreton area are threatening a prime kayaking location in the city.
The Tailrace, formerly known as The Pumphouse, is a drainage ditch created by the turbines of the Fleet Street pumping station on the Ottawa River.
The location is also a slalom-training course and is considered to be one of Canada’s two “centres of excellence” says the Ottawa White Water Paddling website.
Over the past year, sewage has discharged into the river 22 times, despite the Sewer Branch fixing a malfunctioning valve.
Joseph Potvin, vice-president of marketing for Whitewater Canada, says that he is concerned not only for the paddlers but also for the fish as well.
“Basically what the City of Ottawa is doing is breaking the law, it’s breaking the fisheries policy,” he says. “The fish don’t have voices to complain, we do.”
Potvin says that he has heard several tales from the paddlers. “The paddlers came back one time and they reported 24 condoms floating in the water,” he says. “This is right down below Parliament Hill.” Potvin says that this level of pollution next door to Parliament is unacceptable.
“The fact that there’s poop going in the water just upstream from Parliament Hill has got to be a national embarrassment.”
Somerset Ward Coun. Diane Holmes says she has been working on the Tailrace problem for a year now and says that only recently has there been an issue with sewage.
“Generally there is discharge when there is a severe rainstorm but this has been happening even when there are no rainstorms.”
Ultimately, Holmes wants a holding tank under Somerset Street, so the sewers will be able to cope with the growing community over the next 20 years.
The proposed tank would hold increased storm sewage until the treatment plant could process the increased amount of waste. This, she says, would avoid the problem of discharge flowing into the river. She says she hopes to implement the plan in the next 10 years.
At a recent committee meeting, Holmes proposed that money be allocated in the 2007 budget to build a Real Time Control Structure, a device which would help control how many times sewage is discharged into the river. Holmes ensured that $12 million was allocated towards the Fleet Street construction.
Work will start on the project only if the budget is passed next March. The structure would be built along with the Light Rail Project.
“We wouldn’t want to be digging holes in the ground if we’ll end up putting rails on top of it,” she says.
However, if the Light Rail Project is significantly delayed for more than six months, she says construction at the Fleet Street location will proceed.
Holmes would like to see the area maintained as a recreational facility and fish spawning area. “I’m quite determined to make sure there is public access and that we get the kayakers back and training and get it back to being a fish habitat,” she says.
However, some are not so quick to be concerned about the River.
Sven Pinkert, a representative of CanoeKayak Canada, dismisses the claims of pollution. He has received confirmation from water engineers stating that the water quality of the river is fine and is not affecting the paddlers.
John Hastings, a local kayaker who trains near LeBreton Flats, says he is unaffected by the pollution.
“The Ottawa River is polluted but not to an extreme,” he says. “It’s not like I’m going down there and coming back with another arm.”