SEATTLE (AP) — The British Columbia government has approved a plan to treat for the first time millions of gallons of raw sewage that pours into marine waters between Vancouver Island and Washington state.
B.C.’s Environment Minister Barry Penner said Wednesday the plan to treat sewage from Victoria and its suburbs meets with requirements and will reduce contaminants.
The region discharges about 34 million gallons of raw sewage into the Strait of San Juan de Fuca each day. Environmentalists and politicians in Washington state have criticized the practice for years.
Regional officials said Wednesday that the government’s approval is a key step toward getting federal and regional money for the $782-million project.
In 2006, Penner ordered the region to come up with a sewage treatment plan.
