Chticamp residents raise stink about sewage treatment plant

People in Inverness County, N.S., are once again raising a stink about a foul odour emanating from the local sewage treatment plant, but this time it's in a different location.

Over the summer, more than 200 people in the village of Inverness rallied to demand that the county take action to address that community's aging and over-burdened sewage system.

Since then, people in Chticamp have also been complaining about a stench that smells like feces.

Claude Bourgeois, owner of The Doryman Pub and Grill, which is located just north of the Chticamp sewage treatment plant, said heand other tourism operators along the half-kilometrestretch of Cabot Trail near the plantare hoping to get the issue fixed before the weather warms up and the smell and tourists return.

"There's Airbnbs, there's some chalets, there's motels ... People come out of their cars to go get an ice cream at Mr. Chicken and they would smell this sewer," he said.

According to Inverness County CAO Keith MacDonald, the solution to the stench in Chticamp is simpler than the one in the village of Inverness, which needs a new treatment plant.

The problem in Chticamp is a sewage outflowpipe that runs from the plant out into the ocean hasbeen severely damaged by wavesand needs to be extended.

"Right now it is much closer to land than it has been in the past, where the material is emitted out of the pipe," said MacDonald.

He said though the material flowing out of the outfall pipe is treatedandthe sewage treatment plant is functioning properly, the treated materialcan still have sewage odour,especially when the weather is warm.

The county sought outand has receivedinformation from provincial and federal officialsas to the steps neededto complete the repair work safely.

MacDonald said they hoped to get the work done before winter conditions took hold, but were unable to do so.The project is now set for the spring.

Meanwhile, efforts to build a new treatment plant in the village of Invernessare proceeding.

MacDonald said arequest for proposals for a system assessment and the design of a new treatment plant will be issued soon.