Septage spreading still legal on approved fields, ministry reps confirm

BARRY’S BAY – It’s going to be a couple more weeks before the Dombroskie family will find out if they can land-apply septic waste on a piece of their property off of Stanley Olsheski Road.

A special council meeting was held on July 17, so that council could hear from the Ministry of Environment.

While the Dombroskie family have applied for a rezoning on the piece of property in question, Madawaska Valley Township Council has halted passing the bylaw after concerned neighbours stepped forward.

The township wanted to get some clarification from the ministry on the property and potential impacts it would have on the environment.

Jennifer Faria and Jena Leavoy travelled from their head office in Ottawa to attend the meeting. They represent the Ministry of the Environment, which must grant approval to business looking to dispose of hauled sewage.

According to Leavoy, there are 350 approved haulers throughout the province. Of that, 60 per cent of the waste is applied to land and 40 per cent goes to municipal sewage treatment plants.

While Barry’s Bay has a municipal septage treatment plant installed at the wastewater plant, it is not operational, nor are businesses mandated by the province to use it.

Faria explained that part of the ministry’s job is to ensure that once an application has been approved, that the business owners comply with the requirements.

“This also helps to ensure that there is no spreading going on any sites that don’t have a valid approval,” Faria said. 

Get your July 22, 2015 edition of The Valley Gazette to read the full story.