Jump to content
  • GUESTS

    If You  want access  to member only forums on FM, You will need to Sign-in or  Sign-Up now .

    This box will disappear once you are signed in as a member.

Sewage spill on Red


Recommended Posts

This is what I was able to find so far.


Raw sewage dumped into Red River


~Canadian Press~


Tuesday, September 17, 2002

A huge flow of raw sewage has been released into the Red River after an accident at a treatment plant in Winnipeg.

A problem with a valve caused the sewage leak and city crews are working around the clock to correct the problem.

The sewage started flowing into the river late Monday afternoon.

But city officials say it could take a week to fix the leak.

Until then, up to 230,000 cubic metres of raw sewage will be flowing into the river each day.

Biologists fear the sewage may hurt fish and aquatic life from the Red River to the north end of Lake Winnipeg.

But Winnipeg director of the city's water and waste department, said a high flow upstream will help dilute the sewage.

No communities downstream of Winnipeg get their drinking water from the Red River.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They better get a plug in it soon and not let it pump crap into the system for a whole **** week!



------------------
Backwater Eddy..><,sUMo,>

Backwater Guiding
"Ed on the RED"
(701)-281-2300

[email protected]

http://fishingminnesota.com/ed-on-the-red

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yup this one is for real and It's really not something new. It appears that the oldest and the largest of the three treatment facilities (at the north end of Winnipeg) is the culprit. I'm not overly surprised as I've seen the discharge area on the Red from the plant (just past Kildonan park and the old railroad bridge) releasing white foamy water every year. You can spot when this happens as the Gulls gather at the spot.

We've been told over the years that the city's plants only disharge water that is safe and non harmful to the environment. Yes the treatment plants do discharge cleaner water but as everyone in Winnipeg knows.... when it rains a good portion of the city's sewage ends up in the Red anyways......... this is really nothing new --- I know I'm sounding a bit cynical now!

Fish will survive and yes we are being told (as per usual) that fish will be edible if prepared with care. As always, health officer Margaret Fast warns: drinking and swimming in the Red isn't recommended.....

It's really sad but it's a fact of life up here on the lower Red.

I thought you folks might be interested in what they're saying about it in Winnipeg.....

____________________________________________

It's a filthy shame ...
Antiquated wastewater system constant polluter
By TOM BRODBECK, CITY COLUMNIST

Winnipeggers should be far more concerned with the oceans of raw sewage the city quietly dumps into our rivers every year than they are with the accidental discharge we're seeing in the North End this week.

Obviously, it's appalling that 230,000 cubic meters of untreated sewage is spewing daily into the Red River because of a faulty valve at a wastewater treatment plant.

But it's an accident -- an unforeseen event that will probably be corrected within a week. And more than likely, steps will be taken to reduce the chances of if happening again.

What's more dreadful than this environmental accident, though, is the fact Winnipeg continues to dump raw sewage into its rivers on a regular basis, with little or no public outcry.

That's because about 40% of Winnipeg still has a wastewater system that, when it rains heavily, causes raw sewage to drain into both the Assiniboine and Red rivers.

On average, that happens about 18 times a year, according to the city's water and waste department.

Heavy downpour

Think of it. Every time we get a heavy downpour -- and we've had more than our share this summer -- 40% of Winnipeg's sewage drains directly into our two major rivers.

Can you imagine the environmental damage this is causing to our rivers and to Lake Winnipeg?

It's not a new phenomenon. Sewage systems were built that way until the late 1950s. Newer developments in Winnipeg have separate sewage systems that prevent this from happening.

But in central Winnipeg, including parts of the North End, St. Boniface and River Heights, sewage and rainwater drain through the same pipes.

Normally, sewage is diverted to a treatment plant before it hits the rivers. But when it rains, the volumes are too great to be diverted and both the sewage and rainwater drain into the rivers.

This happens at about 75 overflows located along the Red and Assiniboine.

There's been a whole whack of studies and computer models done on this problem over the years. But nothing's ever come of it.

As it stands, there are no plans to fix the problem, just more public hearings scheduled for later this year.

We had public hearings on this problem 10 years ago.

The reason it's being ignored is because fixing the problem would cost a fortune and politicians don't want to talk about it.

Estimates to fix or alleviate the problem range between $300 million and $1.5 billion.

What galls me is that Winnipeg homeowners already pay a frontage levy that's supposed to be used exclusively for sewer and water renewal.

But for the first time this year, Mayor Glen Murray -- with the approval of the Doer government -- is robbing that fund and using part of it for general revenues.

That money should be set aside to help alleviate Winnipeg's sewage problems. It shouldn't be used for Murray's re-election slush fund.

____________________________________________

Sewage Still Flowing Into the Red
There could be some damage to aquatic life in the Red River, as raw sewage continues to flow from Winnipeg's North End Water Pollution Control Centre.

Manitoba Conservation Water Quality Management Branch is taking samples from the river along with officials from the City.
It could be another six days however, before the flow is stopped, and until then, 230-thousand cubic meters of raw sewage will continue to flood the river daily.

The sewage is expected to deprive aquatic life of oxygen and the organic loading could hurt some plant life, though fish are expected to be alright.

It was Monday when a broken valve caused a pump room to flood at the control centre, and within hours the sewage was in the river.
City officials insist the sewage poses no serious health risks to people since there are no communities using the river for drinking water.

_____________________________________________

Sewage spews into Red River
Faulty valve the culprit
By ROSS ROMANIUK, CITY HALL REPORTER

City officials are searching for a solution to a spewing sewage situation that's left residents living downstream on the Red River holding their noses.

Monday's mechanical breakdown at the North End Water Pollution Control Centre created a serious stink for riverbank homeowners living near outflow pipes where raw sewage is entering the river.

Many rural officials who were left in the dark while the sludge started moving their way are outraged.

"That's horrible," St. Andrews Reeve Don Forfar said yesterday of the waste now pouring daily into the Red. "If it weren't for the media, that stuff would have been flushed down our way and we wouldn't have known."

Water and waste officials spent yesterday trying to let the public in on the dirty details of Monday's plant breakdown -- the first of its kind here in 37 years.

Emergency

A faulty valve at the north Main Street complex turned routine pump maintenance into a rush of incoming sewage and a workplace emergency.

After a scuba diver and crews regained control and pumped out the mess, Manitoba Conservation set about monitoring the quality of river water.

The natural flow of the Red will be joined daily by more than 230,000 cubic metres of untreated waste, until at least the weekend.

"We'll have to do a fair bit of questioning and assessing, not only this plant," said waste director Barry MacBride, "but our other two plants, for any kind of catastrophic failure that could put us out of business like this."

Until the six pumps are dismantled and thoroughly cleaned, the flushes of almost half of Winnipeg will head straight to the Red.

Health and environmental officials insist there's no need for residents to panic -- particularly since high, fast-moving water quickly dilutes the sewage, which yesterday was clearly visible, as it drains into the murky water.

Provincial water quality manager Dwight Williamson said "special daily monitoring" from the Provencher Bridge to the mouth of Lake Winnipeg is going ahead.

The area's fish can be eaten, most officials said, adding gloves and routine cleaning before filleting and preparing are a must.

As always, said health officer Margaret Fast, drinking and swimming in the Red isn't recommended.

But no one will have to tell Dan Wasylkiw, who lives on the river's bank, to avoid diving into the odour.

"It gets a little upsetting when it gets into your home," he said. "That's a tough one. But we'll manage. There's a lot worse that could happen."

------------------
Dan Kiazyk
Cat Eye Outfitter
http://www.geocities.com/dkiazyk2000
[email protected]

Link to comment
Share on other sites


Lockport
Canada
[email protected]
Thursday September 19, 2002
07:28:52 PM


Latest on the trials and tibulations of the Red!

As of approximately 5:00 am this morning, they stopped the flow of sewage from entering into the Red. ( Prayers answered)! Lets see what type of penalty will be handed out too the city for this outrageous and incompetent act! I only hope that the powers too be act in the best interest of this incrible resource. There has too be a strong,clear message sent that this type of negligence will not and cannot be tolerated. No exceptions please!

On a more positive note: (fishing update) Fished for 'eyes late this afternoon from 5:30 til 7:50 pm. There were two of us and together we managed eight walleye, twelve sauger and three large kitties. All fish were taken on 3/8 oz. orange jigs tipped with a salty. We fished just north of channel marker 38. Depth was twelve feet. In a nutshell, the event that has just taken place hasn't seemed to have any negative effect, (thus far)!

Another foot note: The cats are absolutely nuts! I mean they are spanking any kind of quality cutbait such as goldeye or tulibee. We're finding them in shallow aswell as deep water. One angler claims to have caught seventeen cats on corks near the eastside rock pile below the dam. He claims that he was only there less than an hour before his bait (goldeye) was depleted.

Til next time,

Stu McKay

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Howdy Stu

Great news on the spill being stopped Stu!

Lets hope they lean from this and get the system set so no more leaks EVER happen again.

The Red is a tough girl, she will outlive us all, if we treat her well.

Eh...by the way Stu...the cats are going nuts here too.

Been fun working jigs and frogs, they "THUMP" them hard like a hungry pike.

It is fun watching the cats at night chase the frogs and jigs right up onto the shore to hit them, like teasing a cat with a ball of yarn....EH.

smile.gif

God I love fall!

See ya soon.

Ed Carlson

------------------
Backwater Eddy..><,sUMo,>

Backwater Guiding
"Ed on the RED"
(701)-281-2300

[email protected]

http://fishingminnesota.com/ed-on-the-red

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I live up by edgewood golf course in Fargo. and drive north broadway every day to work. this morning I noticed alot of white foam flowing down the river all starting at the water treatment plant. I read someone said this is caused from waist, is this true, or could it be from something else.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.


  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • leech~~
      Nope not me.  May want to go nextdoor and ask around?  
    • smurfy
      Looks to me like Leech brought his chair home!!😅😆
    • Brianf.
      I'm not there, so I can't tell exactly what's going on but it looks like a large area of open water developed in the last day with all of the heavy snow on the east side of wake em up Narrows. These two photos are from my Ring Camera facing north towards Niles Point.  You can see what happened with all of snow that fell in the last three days, though the open water could have been wind driven. Hard to say. .  
    • SkunkedAgain
      Black Bay had great ice before but a few spots near rockpiles where there were spots of open water. It looks like the weight of the snow has created a little lake in the middle of the bay.  
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   Thanks to some cold spring weather, ice fishing continues strong for those still ice fishing.  The bite remains very good.  Most resorts have pulled their fish houses off for the year, however, some still have fish houses out and others are allowing ATV and side by sides.  Check social media or call ahead to your favorite resort for specifics. Reports this week for walleyes and saugers remain excellent.   A nice mix of jumbo perch, pike, eelpout, and an occasional crappie, tullibee or sturgeon being reported by anglers. Jigging one line and using a live minnow on the second line is the way to go.  Green, glow red, pink and gold were good colors this week.     Monster pike are on a tear!  Good number of pike, some reaching over 45 inches long, being caught using tip ups with live suckers or dead bait such as smelt and herring in 8 - 14' of water.   As always, work through a resort or outfitter for ice road conditions.  Safety first always. Fish houses are allowed on the ice through March 31st, the walleye / sauger season goes through April 14th and the pike season never ends. On the Rainy River...  The river is opened up along the Nelson Park boat ramp in Birchdale, the Frontier boat ramp and Vidas boat ramp.  This past week, much of the open water skimmed over with the single digit overnight temps.   Areas of the river have popped open again and with temps getting warmer, things are shaping up for the last stretch through the rest of the spring season, which continues through April 14th.   Very good numbers of walleyes are in the river.  Reports this week, even with fewer anglers, have been good.  When temps warm up and the sun shines, things will fire up again.   Jigs with brightly colored plastics or jigs with a frozen emerald shiner have been the desired bait on the river.  Don't overlook slow trolling crankbaits upstream as well.   Good reports of sturgeon being caught on the river as well.  Sturgeon put the feed bag on in the spring.  The bite has been very good.  Most are using a sturgeon rig with a circle hook loaded with crawlers or crawlers / frozen emerald shiners. Up at the NW Angle...  Ice fishing is winding down up at the Angle.  Walleyes, saugers, and a number of various species in the mix again this week.  The bite is still very good with good numbers of fish.  The one two punch of jigging one line and deadsticking the second line is working well.   Check with Angle resorts on transport options from Young's Bay.  Call ahead for ice road guidelines.  
    • CigarGuy
      With the drifting, kind of hard to tell for sure, but I'm guessing about a foot and still lightly snowing. Cook end!
    • PSU
      How much snow did you get on Vermilion? 
    • Mike89
      lake here refroze too...  started opening again yesterday with the wet snow and wind...  very little ice left today...
    • Hookmaster
      A friend who has a cabin between Alex and Fergus said the lake he's on refroze. He texted me a pic from March 12th when it was open and one from 23rd when it wasn't. 🤯
    • SkunkedAgain
      I don't think that there has been any ice melt in the past few weeks on Vermilion. Things looked like a record and then Mother Nature swept in again.   I'll give my revised guess of April 21st
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.