Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star Published: March 06, 2009 4:00 PM
The Interior Health Authority is accused of being heavy-handed over water quality regulations. The North Okanagan Regional District has been ordered by IHA to have a filtration system on the Duteau Creek source by 2015, well ahead of schedule. “The standards being set here aren’t the same as the standards across the province. We should have a standard for the entire province,” said Eric Foster, NORD chairman. The original goal for Duteau Creek filtration was 2017 or 2018, and the price tag is about $20 million. “Of course we all want safe drinking water, but we have to be able to pay for it. They’d break us,” said Foster, adding that IHA is quick to demand improvements but it doesn’t assist with the cost. “Show us where it’s necessary and come to the table with a cheque.” But while Duteau Creek is on the table now, IHA could demand filtration of other water utilities within the region, including Mabel Lake and Silver Star. “The costs involved are beyond the reach of a lot of people,” said Rick Fairbairn, rural Lumby director. Director John Trainor claims Armstrong has already experienced problems over rebuilding parts of its water system. “It’s like talking to a brick wall,” he said of IHA.
“We will have to spend hundreds of millions of dollars in the province to filter everything.” NORD staff have talked to IHA bureaucrats about the matter, but the plan is for directors to get a hold of their MLAs and IHA board members. “We should bring this to their attention,” said Herman Halvorson, rural Enderby director, who is meeting with Health Minister George Abbott March 20. Wayne Lippert, Vernon director, is calling on all jurisdictions to speak out. “Either bring everyone in the province to compliance or we will comply and give us the money,” he said. However, IHA officials defend their actions, saying there are provincial and national expectations for water quality. “We want water provided from that (Duteau) source to meet treatment objectives,” said Roger Parsonage, assistant director of health protection. In terms of NORD accusations that it’s being asked to follow rules other B.C. jurisdictions aren’t, Parsonage would not enter into the debate. “I can’t comment on what other health authorities are or are not doing,” he said. In terms of the finances needed to upgrade utilities and install filtration, Parsonage insists IHA provides letters of support when municipalities and regional districts apply to senior government for grants. “The fact that there is a signficant cost is not lost on us,” he said. However, Parsonage contends that any improvements are necessary to ensure public health and that, not money, is the priority. “We want suppliers to make plans to achieve the objectives whether they get grants or not,” he said.
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Morning Star Editorial: Health authority requires restraint Published: March 06, 2009 4:00 PM
It must be great to be a bureaucrat with the Interior Health Authority. You can set arbitrary timelines for municipalities or regional districts to install upgrades to water treatment systems, and have absolutely no responsibility to cover the costs. In the case of the North Okanagan Regional District, IHA is demanding that filtration be added to the Duteau Creek utility by 2015, ahead of the original schedule, and at a whopping price tag of possibly $20 million. Do the IHA bureaucrats not realize that Greater Vernon residents have already been hit hard with higher water rates to cover ongoing improvements, and the financial well is running dry, particularly for those who have been laid off or seen their investments eroded by the recession? And yet there is no money coming from IHA to help, just demands and likely threats to fine NORD officials if they don’t follow the orders. It should also be pointed out that IHA is insisting on filtration for Duteau Creek and ultimately other local water utilities, when communities in other B.C. health authorities are not.
Does this mean that other health authorities are abandoning their responsibilities for public health or is IHA going over the top? Instead of little fiefdoms calling the shots, this a clear indication of why provincewide standards are required. Ultimately, we all want to know that our water is safe, and filtration may make sense. But getting there must be realistic and meet the financial ability of residents to pay, and the heavy bureaucratic stick doesn’t help.
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