The city has known since 2001

Tall grass, branches, rocks, and boots mired in sludge, led to the conclusion that one was looking for a needle in a haystack. Most often, it was the stench that came to the rescue and led to the discovery of the target. A PVC pipe measuring 15 cm in diameter that spits out foul-smelling waste.

The bottom line arrived at by Mr. Pelletier’s team was 84 pipes likely to be connected to septic tanks. There were signs that in 64 of the 84 installations the used water flowing in the pipes had not been adequately treated.

The complete inventory of the pipes, the civic addresses, maps, and pictures were put directly “into the hands” of the mayor, in the fall of 2001, states CRE de Laval director Guy Garand.

Of 197 faulty installations 162 were found to be in this district, as of 2002. Other problems were singled out in other parts of the island, east and west, in 2003 and 2004,

In the last few years calls from residents and visits to the sites suggest that the problem along the river bank in Saint-François east is still not solved.

Last month, seven years after biologist Richard Pelletier’s investigation, CRE de Laval director Guy Garand and the Courrier Laval team retraced in part the 2001 itinerary. The results from an analysis of 10 waste water pipes show that several septic installations emit a staggering amount of fecal coliforms into the air.

“In the 21st Century it’s not acceptable to pollute and no one has the acquired right to pollute,” Mr. Garand emphasizes. “I believe that measures to eliminate or alleviate the effects of the emission of waste water should be put in place, at source,” notes Mr. Garand. “To do this, the current best known techniques must be used, regardless of cost.

“Thought must also be given to the capacity of ecosystems to absorb [the wastes],” he states. At the extremity of avenue Tourville, where more than 60,000 fecal coliforms per 100 ml of water flow from a pipe connected to several homes, the quality of river water is pitiful. This summer, the levels of coliforms along the bank measured by Quebec exceeded 2,000 per 100 ml of water in two out of three cases. On July 23 the level reached 10,200.

“Every ecosystem has a capacity for absorption and filtration for wastes [dumped into it]. Beyond this capacity the ecosystem changes and not necessarily for the better. We can see the appearance of blue algae, the loss of animal and vegetable species , etc. A species that becomes extinct is lost forever, consequently affecting our biodiversity," Guy Garand concludes.

Photo: impatiente du Cap

(Photo: Martin Alarie)