Montreal's big dump draws criticism from Erin Brockovich

In 2005, researcher Daniel Cyr found that pollution in the St. Lawrence was affecting the reproductive abilities of fish in the river.

If you have a fantastic idea about how to store 8 billion litres of sewage, please contact the Premier.

That's what Philippe Couillard said Wednesday as Montreal's plan to dump wastewater into the St. Lawrence river for a week draws closer.

On Tuesday the federal government asked Montreal to hold off on its plan to release sewage into the river beginning Oct. 18 pending further study.

Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre said the federal government was informed of the plan 18 months ago, and so asking for a halt during an election campaign is simply too little, too late.

Coderre said he would be happy to talk to federal representatives, as long as they came up with an alternative by the end of the week.

Wednesday morning, Couillard backed up Montreal's plan as the only possible solution.

"Mayor Coderre's asked the federal representatives to come to the table right away. They should do this and if someone has a genius idea then fine, but every time we've looked at this we've always come back to the same conclusion," said Couillard.

Federal Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq said she only learned of the plan last week.

Quebec Environment Minister David Heurtel defended the dump, saying it was the lesser of two evils and that not acting could put Montreal's drinking water supply at risk. When asked about the nature of that risk, Heurtel was unable to answer and apologized later on Wednesday, calling the claim "a slip of the tongue."

According to Couillard, not shutting down the waste collection basin could affect waste management.

"There are problems because of the characteristics of this conduct," he said. "If it crumbles, than it could damage the water treatment plant in Montreal, which could be extremely dangerous in terms of public health."

Montreal is planning to dump about 8 billion litres of wastewater into the St. Lawrence River over a one-week stretch beginning Oct. 18.

The city contends the work is a necessary precursor to relocate a snowmelt collector near the Bonaventure Expressway, which is being lowered.

Environment Quebec approved the plan, reluctantly, after determining that the city of Montreal had no other option but to allow the short term dumping.

Activists have launched a petition asking Montreal not to go ahead with the plan to dump sewage.

Those opposed to the plan include noted consumer advocate Erin Brockovich, who says the plan is "ridiculous and shameful."

Others point out the amount of effluent being let loose into the river over seven days is less than 0.3 percent of the water flowing down the river in that time period.

Meanwhile, scientists at the National Institute of Scientific Research are concerned about the dump.

"We know there are effects on fish and wek now that there are effects on the reproductive functions and some of these effects are quite dramatic," said Daniel Cyr, a researcher at the NISR.

In 2005, Cyr found fish in the St. Lawrence were losing their ability to reproduce. The long-term effects of polution can be hard to predict and go beyond life in the river, he said.

"Many years ago, we were fishing at a site where we were seeing effects on fish and if we fed the fish to rats, we were seeing effects on the reproductive systems of rats," he said. "So is this happening to humans? I don't see why there isn't a good chance that it would be happening."