Surfers, kayakers show their love for the St. Lawrence ahead of sewage-dump plans
Water sports enthusiasts protest against Montreal's plan to dump 8 billion litres of wastewater into river
Nautical enthusiasts took to the the shores of the St. Lawrence River on Sunday morning to protest against the city's plan to dump eight billion litres of wastewater into the river.
Water-sports lovers gathered in Lachine to surf and paddle around the St. Lawrence before heading to the Lachine Canal.
Organized by Quebec Surf and Echo Aloha, a company in Morin Heights that does paddle board lessons, Sunday's gathering was meant as a way to show their love for the St. Lawrence.
"We can do better. [The volume of the wastewater in question] is probably one per cent of the stream," said Jonathan Busby, the owner of Echo Aloha. "We can reduce our impact."
And although they don't expect to stop the city from going ahead with its plan, the protesters are hoping that the city can at least find some ways to minimize the amount of sewage about to be dumped into the river.
They also wanted the protest to convey to Montrealers the responsibility of being mindful of the non-human waste they put in the toilet.
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Alexandre Lépine, a member of Quebec Surf, said people should work together to keep the water as clean as possible.
After all, he added, the current of the river might be powerful enough to wash the waste away from the city's shores, but other cities upstream will have to contend with what Montrealers flush.
The City of Montreal plans to dump the untreated wastewater into the river as a temporary measure while it carries out work on the Bonaventure Expressway and some parts of the Montreal sewer system. The sewer diversion is supposed to start Oct. 18 and last a week.
However, the city has come up against resistance from residents and Environment Canada, the latter of which is still analyzing the city's plans.
The government agency is expected to give its official position on Tuesday.