On average in 2006,116 million litres of raw sewage, landfill leachate, residential and commercial wastewater per day is being discharged from Macaulay Point and Clover Point approximately 1.5 km from Victoria’s shores.[1]
The CRD has discharged raw sewage and other municipal wastewater to the marine environment in the vicinity of Macaulay Point and Clover Point for roughly 100 years (CRD 2005).[2]
Sewage treatment in the greater Victoria area is managed by the Capital Region District. The Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry has stated: “CRD differs from most other coastal communities in North America in the level of wastewater treatment; virtually all other communities provide a minimum of primary treatment, while the CRD only ‘screens’ its wastewater before it is discharge into the environment.”[3]
[1] CRD Summary of Annual Report for 2006, www.crd.bc.ca/wastewater/marine/reports.htm
[2] Donald D. MacDonald and Dawn E. Smorong, MacDonald Environmental Sciences Ltd. An Evaluation of Sediment Quality Conditions in the Vicinity of the Macaulay Point and Clover Point Outfalls, 2006.
[3] SETAC. Scientific and Technical Review 2006 pg.11