Sewage dumps, like Montreal's, happen here more than you'd think
Montreal's dump of raw sewage into the St. Lawrence river happens more often then you may think. Municipalities across Canada routinely dump raw sewage or under treated sewage into our natural waters wreaking huge environmental and economic costs.
Shortly after midnight on Tuesday, the City of Montreal began dumping 8 billion litres of untreated sewage into the St. Lawrence River, so that the city could do maintenance work on underground infrastructure.
The dumping had been delayed until the city could get the go ahead from the federal Minister of Environment.
The outrage over the dump has been widespread. But according to critics, this kind of thing happens all too often.
Elaine MacDonald is a senior scientist with Ecojustice. She has helped write a number of reports on waste water pollution in Canadian cities. She was in our Toronto studio.
This segment was produced by The Current's Sujata Berry.