British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell Friday pledged that the province would pay one-third of the cost of building a new sewage treatment system for Victoria. The city currently dumps raw sewage directly into the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
The funds could help avert a major PR problem for the 2010 Olympics, which are supposed to be environmentally friendly but face boycotts and protests if the capital continues to dump raw sewage. It also relieves friction between B.C. and Washington, where towns along the same body of water already paid for sewage treatment.
"The lack of sewage treatment for our provincial capital is an embarrassment to British Columbians," Campbell told CBC.
The Victoria region was ordered in July to come up with a sewage-treatment plan by next June. The project is expected to cost as much as $500 million but setting up a public-private partnership to handle the project is expected to help control costs.