Montreal moves to stop La Ronde sewage spewing into river

The city of Montreal is defending the way it deals with waste water in and around the Island after it was discovered recently that the amusement park La Ronde was pumping toilet water directly into the St. Lawrence River.

La Ronde is located on le Sainte-Hlne and, on Friday, city crews were inspecting sewers there and on nearby le Notre-Dame to make sure there are no other problems.

The man in charge of the city's waste water treatment, Richard Lafontaine, said he wasn't happy when he recently got a call from a reporter telling him toilet water from La Ronde was spewing directly into the river.

He said it should have been directed into the sewer system. He said the city does inspect much of the sewer system, but it can't be everywhere at once.

"Unfortunately, sometimes you can inspect one part of the sewer system and, 20 minutes later, something else happens, and the situation is different."

Lafontaine said that's why it's important that the public let the city know when there are problems.

He pointed out that, in the current case with La Ronde, the city responded to the complaint quickly.

"Within 24 hours, OK, we had teams there, the evaluation was made, the problem was stopped, and work to correct it has already begun."

Twenty years ago, Lafontaine said, there was no waste-water treatment on the Island of Montreal.

The city has made improvements since then. But, he said, there's always room to do better.