Victoria citizens oppose secondary sewage treatment plan

Dozens of Greater Victoria citizens packed a regional district meeting Wednesday demanding a challenge to the federal government's order to build a secondary sewage treatment plant.

They say the billion-dollar project is not based on any scientific evidence to prove discharging screened sewage is harming the environment.

Saanich director Vic Derman and Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins put forward a motion to suspend the project, but time ran out before regional district directors could vote.

Derman hopes fellow directors will listen to the majority of citizens who spoke at Wednesday’s meeting.

"When you look at the weight of expertise that came forward today, incredibly qualified people who are saying, 'You haven’t done this right. You need to go back, you need to take a look, you need to make sure that you are making the best possible investment for the environment, for the taxpayers,'" Derman said.

"So hopefully they’ll heed that advice."

No date has been set to vote on Derman's motion.