WCOWMA-BC has completed a very successful series of four Town Hall meetings held in four communities throughout the province. Attendees to meetings held in Ladysmith, Abbotsford, Lake Country and Nelson, participated in guest presentations followed by a presentation and discussion on septic systems that fail to meet the requirements under Section 12 of the Sewerage System Regulation.

Information from stakeholders led the association to host these meetings as a mechanism to communicate the following information:

What constitutes an illegal system?

• A system that does not meet the requirements of Section 12 of the SSR.

Who has the authority or jurisdiction over these systems?

• The Ministry of Health and through them, the Regional Health Authorities

What role do the certification bodies, ASTTBC and APEGBC play?

• The certification bodies deal with issues of competency and ethics violations within their individual memberships.

What options does the authorized person have if they become aware of an undocumented system, a system that doesn’t meet the SSR or a system that is causing a health hazard?

• Ascertain whether there is a filing in place on the system in question.
• If there is no filing or if there are concerns of a health hazard, file a formal complaint with the Regional Environmental Health Officer.
• Send a copy of your report to WCOWMA-BC for inclusion in our database.

What can WCOWMA-BC do to support the onsite wastewater community?

• Maintain a database of reported issues.
• Report to the Ministry of Health and follow up with them on these issues.
• Report back to the membership on resolutions or other activity taking place to address these situations.
• Continually work with government and key stakeholder groups to reduce the number of illegal systems.

WCOWMA-BC has no authority to investigate systems reported on or to sanction those who planned, installed, maintained or inspected these systems. Our role is that of advocate to the regulatory authorities on issues that are of concern to our members and broader stakeholder group. It is in this spirit that we collect information on industry issues to bring to the attention of the decision and policy makers.

A link will be set up on the website at www.wcowma-bc.com to enable electronic submission of comments and reports. If you have any questions regarding these meetings or the discussions stemming from these meetings, please contact us at 877.489.7471.