Press

Media Release: April 21, 2005 VICTORIA, BC – Documents recently obtained through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request show that the current BC Government was pressured by the Capital Regional District (CRD) to approve Victoria’s lackluster 25 year Core Area Liquid Waste Management Plan (LWMP) in 2003 and that the province knowingly ignored a 1993 agreement with Washington State to…

Media Release: July 8, 2005 VICTORIA , BC –Environment Minister Stéphane Dion’s recent statement that he would like to see the city of Victoria, along with all cities across Canada, having a minimum of secondary treatment for its sewage is an important and welcomed step forward in efforts to reduce pollution impacts on our oceans from municipal waste, say local…

CRD sampling data reveals high levels of toxics near outfalls Media Release: November 15, 2005 VICTORIA, BC – Sierra Legal Defence Fund, on behalf of the Georgia Strait Alliance and T Buck Suzuki Environmental Foundation, made an urgent request today that the Province of British Columbia formally designate the underwater areas surrounding Victoria’s sewage outfalls as contaminated sites. The groups…

Media Release: February 8, 2006 VICTORIA, BC – Sierra Legal Defence Fund, the Georgia Strait Alliance and T. Buck Suzuki Environmental Foundation are expressing frustration over a mixed response recently received from the BC Ministry of Environment in regards to their request from last November. The groups had asked the province to formally recognize that the Capital Regional District (CRD)…

Media Release: February 22, 2006 VICTORIA, BC – The BC government’s budget is a major lost opportunity to stop the dumping of raw sewage by the Capital Regional District of Victoria (CRD), say local environmental groups. By not committing its 1/3 share for a new sewage plant, the government is allowing the CRD to continue flaunting the province’s environmental protection…

Media Release: July 13, 2006 Victoria must plan for sewage treatment now VICTORIA, BC – Environmental groups strongly support the findings of the recently released SETAC Scientific and Technical Review of the Greater Victoria region’s waste management plan and are pressing for urgent action. According to Georgia Strait Alliance, T. Buck Suzuki Environmental Foundation and Sierra Legal Defence Fund, the…

Media Release: July 21, 2006 Environmental groups praise Environment Minister VICTORIA, BC – Environmental groups are delighted with the strong message sent today by BC’s Minister of Environment Barry Penner to the Capital Regional District (CRD) concerning the CRD’s inadequate sewage treatment. Sierra Legal Defence Fund, Georgia Strait Alliance and T. Buck Suzuki Environmental Foundation commend Minister Penner for directing…

Media Release: July 27, 2006 Environmental groups say that Lions Gate, Iona are polluters VANCOUVER, BC – Environmental organizations are demanding immediate action from the Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD) and the Greater Vancouver Sewage & Drainage District towards implementing secondary sewage treatment at Lions Gate and Iona sewage treatment plants. In a letter sent today to the GVRD Board,…

August 2, 2006 Under the Criminal Code and Canadian common law, every person has the right to initiate a private prosecution against an alleged offender. A private prosecution occurs when an individual, or a group of individuals, gathers evidence of a wrongdoing, lays charges against the alleged offender, and then has those charges approved by a Provincial Court Judge.  A…

Media Release: August 2, 2006 Investigation reveals toxic sewage, groups demand sewage plant upgrades VANCOUVER, BC – Environmental groups and commercial fishermen today launched a private prosecution against both the Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD) and the Province of British Columbia over toxic pollution from the Lions Gate sewage treatment plant in West Vancouver. Doug Chapman, an investigator working with…