The City of Montreal has begun dumping billions of litres of raw sewage into the St. Lawrence River.

On Wednesday morning in Verdun, a Montreal borough located along the St. Lawrence, workers with nets could be seen on the water.

They were fishing out particles that were floating to the surface near anti-pollution barriers set up by the municipality, CTV Montreal’s Caroline Van Vlaardingen reported.

The workers were seen on the water hours after sewers began diverting untreated wastewater into the river.

Wednesday’s move comes after the federal government approved the dump, on the condition that the city would take measures to limit the dump’s impact on the waterway.

Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre said officials are closely monitoring the situation.

"Before, after and during the process, we are taking some samples of the water," Coderre told reporters.

Since the sewage dump began, Coderre said officials have noticed a "little colouration" of the St Lawrence, but that residents shouldn't be alarmed.

"Just be careful not to look at the colouration itself as a benchmark … because it’s not accurate," Coderre said.

When asked about the safety of the drinking water, Coderre said there was no concern.

"Regarding drinking consumption, there's no problem."

Coderre had said Tuesday that the city will create an emergency protocol and cleanup plan for areas in the vicinity of the sewage dump. He acknowledged that while the dump was an "unpopular decision," the city must "shoulder" its responsibilities.

"Environment Canada has confirmed what we knew from the start: a planned dump, even if it is not the ideal solution, is far better than having an unplanned dump," Coderre said.

The city has said that the diversion of the sewage into the river is needed in order to repair aging infrastructure, and to relocate a snow chute.

But the Green Party's Deputy Leader Daniel Green said the city could have reduced the amount of discharge going into the river by limiting the work to one section of the sewer.

"The river would have been much cleaner because of that," Green told CTV News Channel on Wednesday.

He added the dump should have been scheduled during December or January, rather than a time of year when people are still using the waterway.

"It’s a beautiful day today, people are walking along the river and they’re literally walking next to raw sewage, contaminating the shoreline," Green said.

The untreated wastewater will continue to flow for one week, while construction crews repair a snowmelt collector.

Most of the underwater sewer outlets are 30 to 50 metres offshore.

In light of the sewage dump, the city is reminding people to never flush certain items down the toilet, including dental floss, tampons, condoms, medication and wipes.

Overnight protests

On Tuesday night, ahead of the planned dump, demonstrators holding a banner that read “Save our River” blocked traffic on Montreal’s Mercier Bridge in protest of the dump, saying there are more environmentally friendly options.

"I think it’s an important point that everyone understand, that the alternatives exist, they’re out there," said one protester.

Instead of investing in projects such as decorations for the Champlain Bridge, "that money could have been used to create biomethane plants that would solve this long-term," the protester added.

A second small protest also took place in Montreal’s Old Port neighbourhood.

Wednesday's move isn’t the first time Montreal has dumped raw sewage into the St. Lawrence. In 2005, about 770 million litres of untreated wastewater was dumped into the river.

It is practice that is also done in other Canadian cities:

  • Victoria, B.C., dumps about 130 million litres daily into the Juan de Fuca Strait
  • In 2013, Toronto discharged about 1 billion litres into Lake Ontario
  • And the City of Winnipeg routinely dumps sewage into nearby waterways

According to water quality expert Sarah Dorner, while the problem of dumping sewage into bodies of waters is "widespread," the situation has been improving.

"We have a Canada-wide strategy for managing wastewater effluence and that’s in progress so there are things in place going on to make it better,: she said.

With files from CTV Montreal