Untreated sewage from Carleton has been leaking into the Rideau River for at least two years, despite the university’s efforts to fix the problem, according to a student who said she discovered the waste.

Third-year environmental studies student Angela Crosbie described her findings in a report detailing her experience.

In the fall of 2007, Crosbie said she and a friend were relaxing beside the Rideau River when they noticed a white, murky stream along the riverbank.

They followed the stream and found a pool of foul-smelling, cloudy water in the rocks, which Crosbie said appeared to be the source of the pollution.

The cloudy water was carried down until it hit the fault line where it disappeared in the turbulence. After “fuming about it for a bit” and leaving, she said the problem still nagged her.

She discussed the problem with one of her professors, who suggested they test the water.

One hundred million E. coli bacteria colonies per 100 milliliters were discovered in a sample taken from the source by Crosbie and tested by the Ottawa General Hospital, her report said, and Carleton’s Darryl Boyce, assistant vice-president (facilities management and planning), has confirmed this.

This level of contamination at the source is about one million times the amount allowed by fresh water regulations, according to Patrick Larson, senior water resources technician at the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority.

“If someone did go into the river [at the point of contamination] they stand a risk of becoming extremely ill,” Larson said.

If a person were to dip their feet in with a cut they could be infected, Crosbie said. She also said she is concerned that people fish in the river and sometimes eat the fish they catch.

University of Ottawa geology professor Holly Donohoe, who teaches a water resource management course and has followed Crosbie’s research, said this level of E. coli “raises concerns about human health and environmental health.”

However, she said that since the Rideau  is a fast-flowing river, the pollution would dissipate quickly, and unless someone made direct contact with the source, the risk would be minimal.

Carleton hasn’t “considered [the level of contamination] to be significant” and therefore had informed Environment Canada, but not warned students to stay away from the area, Boyce said.

In November 2008, Crosbie approached Carleton president Roseann Runte. After Crosbie showed the leak to Duncan Watt, vice-president (finance and administration), the school hired an environmental engineering company, AECOM, to handle the situation, Runte said.

“The matter was investigated and corrected,” Runte said in an e-mail, noting that Crosbie did the right thing by drawing it to her attention.

After their tests, AECOM concluded there was in fact sewage leaking into the river, the report said. Using dye to trace the plumbing systems, they concluded that there was a crack “in a pipe in the stairway linking the back of Southam Hall to the Loeb Building,” Boyce said.

The school paid for the construction and fixed the pipe, Boyce said, a solution Crosbie described as a “concrete band-aid.”

When Crosbie checked the source again in April 2009, sewage was still present.

This time she brought it to the attention of Boyce, who worked with AECOM on behalf of the university.
AECOM refused to comment.

Crosbie said she eventually received an e-mail from Mike Graham, manager of construction services at Carleton, saying, “Further testing in the summer of 2009 indicated that there was still E. coli in this storm system” and “subsequent testing and maintenance has recently confirmed that there are broken storm and sanitary pipes exterior to the Tory Building.”

Boyce said the same type of construction used previously is expected to be done on the pipe in the next two months. He said they have checked the other pipes around campus and believe there is only one damaged pipe.

Crosbie expressed concern that, like last time, the university may not have found the only problem.

She also said she’s worried more pipes could be damaged, since the expected life of a pipe before it begins to require repair is about 50 years.

While Crosbie is often left in the dark on the progress, she said “the school is doing the best they can” to fix the problem.