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Lake Cowichan property owner raising stink over sewage

Local and provincial authorities dispute the issue
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Sewage issues raised on Lake Cowichan’s North Shore Road. (File photo)

Kelly McLoughlin said he could smell sewage when he first bought his property on North Shore Road two years ago.

He said further inspection revealed that the smell was coming from a sewage line owned by the Town of Lake Cowichan that runs between his and his neighbour’s property.

McLoughlin said workers from Lake Cowichan have come to the property to investigate the concerns with the sewage system, which he said was put in the ground in 1979, as well as officials from Island Health, but no action has yet been taken to fix the problem.

“The smell was so bad at times this summer that it worked me up,” he said.

“A work crew from Lake Cowichan came out to see the problem with no results, and a woman from Island Health investigated but her bosses said it wasn’t their jurisdiction. All I get from officials is stall, stall, stall on getting this issue dealt with.”

Officials from Island Health acknowledged that a staff member visited the property but jurisdiction falls under the province’s Ministry of Environment.

A statement from the ministry said it is aware of the issue on North Shore Road and ministry inspectors intend to visit the site sometime this week.

The statement said ministry staff and Island Health inspectors have received a number of concerns regarding a sewage line, which serves as a collection line for a sewage treatment facility owned by the Town of Lake Cowichan, that runs between the two residential properties.

“There are access manholes at the upper and lower ends of the residential properties adjacent the collection line which are likely the source of the odour complaints,” the ministry statement said.

“Ministry spill response staff and (Island Health) inspectors have attended the site in the last year and have not observed surfacing sewage. Staff from the Town of Lake Cowichan also attended the site on Sept. 8 and advised they did not detect any surfacing effluent or odour.”

Lake Cowichan mayor Ross Forrest said the matter is a “non-issue.”

He said the issue was first raised in 2015.

“We’ve looked into it and I’ve been shown video of the sewer line for this property and several adjacent properties as well and there are no leaks,” Forrest said.

But McLoughlin said workers from the town showed him the video feed from the sewage pipe when they were inspecting it, and it was quite apparent that there were three holes in the pipe that were leaking sewage.

“The leaks were clearly visible on the video feed,” he said.

“I’m looking forward to the visit from the ministry.”



robert.barron@cowichanvalleycitizen.com

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Robert Barron

About the Author: Robert Barron

Since 2016, I've had had the pleasure of working with our dedicated staff and community in the Cowichan Valley.
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