Polluter’s tactic is to “Attack the messenger”..

Re: More rational approach needed on greywater
Sicamous Eagle Valley News
March 23, 2010

It is predictable for proponents of polluting industries to attack the messenger and deny their complicity instead of dealing with the content of the message. The impact of houseboat greywater is hardly ‘infinitesimal’ otherwise it would not be illegal. The photo shows the soapy wake from just a few houseboats leaving Bughouse Bay near Seymour Arm, so just imagine the amount of soapy water that contains bacteria, e-coli and nasty chemicals entering the lake where there are up to 50 houseboats beached for a weekend in some of the marine parks. And the impact of greywater is hardly ‘infinitesimal’ for those lakeshore property owners that take their drinking water from the lake, including the residents of Sicamous whose drinking water inlet is close to houseboats and the thousands of people in Blind Bay where there are a number of private houseboats.

The houseboat companies build boats with greywater containment built-in for sale in the U.S., where the Environmental Protection Agency has banned greywater discharges into all waterways. While in Sicamous, the companies spend extra dollars on hot tubs and internet access instead of investing in the infrastructure needed to protect lake water quality. Most direct greywater discharge into the lake comes from the commercial houseboats, yet the companies insist that local governments pay for the infrastructure because there are a few private boats that need it as well. The government’s own literature admits that greywater is almost as toxic as blackwater. Even small amounts of greywater create a health risk for lake users, and yet the B.C. government cancelled their enforcement to protect the houseboat industry instead of public health. Even treated water dischargers, such as Salmon Arm, are not allowed to have any e-coli in their discharge.

Some people may remember how the local houseboat industry fought against blackwater containment a few decades ago, but were finally forced to comply by the government due to growing public outrage. Hopefully public outrage will once again work to protect Shuswap water quality. The U.S. greywater ban was not a result of emotional arguments, but scientific ones and the same reasoning should apply in Canada. And why should anyone be called an elitist for wanting to protect water

Jim Cooperman