Regulatory mess of 'Fecal Mountain' one step closer to being resolved

For more than two years, fences have been up around Eagle Mountain Middle School in Anmore, B.C., warning about fecal matter leaking from a nearby septic system up the hill.

The kids even have a nickname for it.  

"It's been called worse than Fecal Mountain, unfortunately," said Robert Boies, a homeowner in Anmore Green Estates, whose septic system leaks water contaminated with E. coli and fecal coliform.

"Nobody deliberately caused this problem, but ... it's extremely stressful, I'm sure, for all parties."

On Tuesday night — 26 months after the provincial government ordered a fix — Anmore council approved a local area service bylaw, allowing the strata to pay to link up to Metro Vancouver's sewage system, while the rest of the predominately rural municipality remains on septic.

The school is already connected to it and has been since the regional sewer system was completed in 2014, as it's less than 100 metres to neighbouring Port Moody, which is also integrated into the system.

Over 80 per cent of the homeowners have signed off on the plan, and if everything goes as scheduled, the homes could be connected and the leak fixed by August. 

However, even that is still uncertain.

Province, regional government, local government, school board

That's because even though Metro Vancouver, Anmore, Port Moody and the strata are now on the same page, the local school district is not and wrote a letter warning the completion date could be delayed unless the strata compensates the district for the connection going through its land. 

"There are several existing legal agreements that will need to be changed or modified," said Ken Hoff, an assistant director with School District 43, in a statement.

"[We're] requesting that Anmore Green Estates pays for the costs associated with these agreements, as it is their septic field issue that needs addressing."

A mediator appointed by the provincial government is attempting to resolve the dispute, and Boies expressed confidence in a solution. 

But Brandie Roberts, a Green Estates resident with a child who attends the school, worries it could further drag out the problem.  

"It's absolutely disappointing," she said, noting that homeowners have already agreed to each pay close to $5,000 to connect with the sewage system and had no idea their septic system would fail when they purchased their homes.

"We've committed to paying project costs, but there's not an unlimited amount of money that we can put forward on this."

More than 'hooking up to a pipe'

In the middle of the dispute stand parents who just want a solution.

"This is as close as all the government levels have been in years," said Diane MacSporran, chair of the Parent Advisory Council at Eagle Mountain Middle School.

"If we can't get it with the support of a facilitator, what is going to do it? Will it take a sick child for someone to say enough is enough?"

Anmore Mayor John McEwen said he sympathizes with residents who wonder why it's taken more than two years to arrive at this point but argues government negotiations can be complex.

"This was a pretty convoluted mess," he said.

"It's such a complicated regulatory process ... and it's tough to get into those conversations, because you almost need close to half an hour just to be able to make people understand the process. It's not just simply hooking up to a pipe."

That's a hard sell to parents seeing their kids play next to a contaminated site for more than two years. 

"It is exhausting," said MacSporran.

"My final child is coming into the school now. Is he going to be there in it? Could this really play on any longer?"