The Citizen, 2002-10-09, Page 12GRADUATION
Robert and June Thomas
are proud to announce the
graduation of their son
Brent from Sheridan College
in Oakville. Brent was
enrolled in the
Telecommunications
Technology course and has
been employed with MDS
Inc. in Information
Technology Services.
Congratulations and best
wishes for the future. Mom,
Dad and Joel.
Wingham and District Hospital Foundation
would like to thank Wescast Industries Inc.
for the $30,000. donation
CAMPAIGN 2001
IMPROVING OUR TECHNOLOGY
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PAGE 12. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2002.
New regulations could cost septic tank users
By Keith Roulston
Citizen publisher
New provincial regulations
banning the spreading on land of
material pumped from septic tanks
could cost homeowners about $11 a
month says a study unveiled at
Huron County council, Thursday.
But because septic tanks are
pumped out only every three years it
would mean a lump-sum cost of
nearly $400 and that has some
councillors worried that
homeowners will try to avoid the
cost by not properly maintaining
their tanks.
If the higher cost causes people to
delay cleaning their septic tanks
there might be a need for provincial
legislation to force proper
Maintenance of the tanks, said
Senior Planner Scott Tousaw as he
introduced engineer Steve Burns of
B. M, Ross and Associates, the
Goderich firm hired to conduct the
study.
Under regulations for the
provincial Nutrient Managenient
Act, expected to be put into force
next spring, municipalities will have
By Keith.Roulston
Citizen publisher
Huron County councillors
Thursday voted to ask the province
to rollback retroactive increases by
Union Gas.
Carol Mitchell of Central Huron
raised the issue of an Ontario Energy
Board decision that allowed the
utility to impose retroactive charges
By Keith Roulston
Citizen publisher
Parents of new babies are more
confident of their abilities and
suffering less stress because of
Huron County's Healthy Babies,
Healthy Children program, a two-
year provincial evaluation says.
Huron implemented the program
in 1997 with statistics showing 11
per cent of Huron families received a
prenatal assessment compared to
seven per cent across the province
and 99 per cent of Huron parents
receiving postpartum contact
compared to 91 per cent else-
where.
In Huron 76 per cent of new
five years to put in place a plan to
deal with the septage pumped out of
tanks when they are cleaned. Current
provincial recommendations are that
tanks should be cleaned out every
three years.
It was a provincial ban On
spreading during winter months that
spurred the county to hire the
engineers to study alternatives.
Burns met with waste haulers,
studied the capacity of all the waste
treatment plants and calculated the
costs of renovating them to accept
waste from haulers.
Five plants have the capacity to
accept waste: those in Blyth,
Brussels, Exeter, Goderich and
Wingham. The cheapest solution to
the problem was to require all waste
to be taken to Goderich but Burns
recommended a more convenient
proposal that is only slightly more
expensive: that the plants in Exeter
and Wingham be modified to handle
the waste. It would, cost more than
$6.5 million to allow the plants to
receive waste, including adding pre-
treatment facilities to the two plants
because material pumped from
septic tanks is much more
going back to 2000 because of
higher gas prices. Mitchell said
she'd been getting calls from
constituents on the matter including
one business that faces an additional
$46,000 charge. This will be a
hardship on some businesses and
people on fixed incomes, she said.
As well as private individuals and
businesses, the Avon Maitland
District Board of Education is
parents had a home visit compared
to 44 per cent elsewhere.
Demand for other Health Unit
programs increased as a result with
75 per cent of parents taking
advantages of such other services as
prenatal education, reproductive
health services, breastfeeding
support, parenting, nutrition and
drop-in services.
The evaluation noted parents felt
increased parental support and
increased integration into the
community. In comments after the
evaluation one parent noted: "I know
if I ever needed anything there was
always someone for me to talk-to. I ,
hear nothing but good things about
the program."
concentrated than the normal
effluent handled by sewage
treatment plants.
"Volume is not the issue," Burns
said, noting that the annual volume
of septage from the county's 14,300
households using septic tanks is the
equivalent of one day's treatment at
the county's sewage treatment
facilities. The concentrated nature of
the waste and the amount of organic
materials to be treated is the
problem, he said.
Costs of the renovations, plus
costs of eventual upgrading of the
capacity of the Wingham and Exeter
plants to replace the capacity used
by treatment of septage, would be
borne through a tipping fee charged
to waste haulers.
The tipping fee fora typical septic
tank cleanout would be $230 but
with the pumping and transportation
costs of the hauler, it would come
close to $400, Burns said. That
works out to about $130 a year, less
than someone would pay for sewage
charges in an urban area but
considerably more than people are
used to paying, Burns said.
What's more, haulers are worried
looking at an additional $100,000 to
$160,000, she said.
County treasurer David Carey said
it appears the charge will cost the
county an additional $18,500.
But in moving a motion, Mitchell
did not get support from Councillor
Deb Shewfelt of Goderich who said
the energy board is a quasi-judicial
board and the government shouldn't
be interfering. Besides, he pointed
out, Union Gas gave customers a
rebate in 1999. "It's a way of
levelling the spot market," he said of
the rebate and surcharge.
Mitchell acknowledged the energy
board is an arm's-length body but
said it's up to councillors to stand up
for their ratepayers. How can
businesses determine what their unit
that they would be the ones to pay
the tipping feed and but might not be
able to colledt it from their
customers.
On the other hand, Burns said,
there's a limited incentive for
municipalities to accept the waste.
There are up front _ costs for
modifications that are only
recovered later through the tipping
fees.
Goderich Councillor Deb
Shewfelt praised Burns's report
saying he felt there were real
problems with the heavy cottage
population along the Lake Huron
shoreline that use septic tanks but he
worried that the municipalities
receiving septage would get the
volume needed to pay for their costs.
People won't pump their tanks if it
costs more, he predicted and
provincial legislation is going to be
required to force people to do so on
a regular basis.
Burns agreed with Shewfelt's
assessment. "A large part of the cost
is capital," he said. "There's a risk
you pay $6.5 million to built a plant
and you won't get enough volume."
Carol Mitchell, Central Huron
costs are if they get retroactive
charges, she wondered?
Rob Morley said as mayor of
South Huron he hadn't received any
calls on the issue from his ratepayers
and proposed a motion to table
Mitchell's motion until more
research could be done.
He received support from
Shewfelt who said "We're
interfering in a free enterprise
system." He warned the county is
going to get calls for more of this
kind of support with the opening up
of the electricity market and possible
retroactive charges from electrical
utilities. -
But the tabling motion was
defeated and Mitchell's original
_motion was supported.
councillor said the province must
define what is untreated septage
before a solution can be proceeded
with. Otherwise a, plant could be
built but there wouldn't be enough
volume to pay for it.
Tousaw warned that though five
years to find a solution to the
problem may seem like a long time
now, by the time environmental
hearings and actual construction is
carried out there's little time to
waste.
In a separate discussion, health
unit" staff have been directed to
prepare a report looking at
mandatory inspection of septic
tanks. But Councillor Rob Morley of
South Huron worried this would
mean a huge expense. "I'd think you
would have to hire 10 people to do it
full time," he said.
S
S
New parents have benefitted
from Healthy Babies program
County asks province to roll back UG charge
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