Friday, July 30, 2010 THE LAC DU BONNET LEADER 5

Septic plan misunderstood: camp director

By Marc Zienkiewicz A proposed septic field system for Camp Cedarwood does not present an environmental hazard as the public seems to believe, according to camp director Brad Plett. Plett appeared at RM of Lac du Bonnet council's regular meeting July 27 to answer questions about the controversial plan, which is being designed by engineering fi rm enivar and has been in the works for more han three years. "The more information we can get out here, the better," Plett told the Leader in a ollow-up meeting at the camp on Wednesay. A fl ood of letters from those in opposition o the plan has been received by the provnce, as part of the public hearing process hat will be carried out before the project eceives approval. Concerns over the plan largely centre round fears that effl uent could make its way rom the septic fi eld system into the nearby inawa Bay, which has suffered from algae looms in recent years. Plett says the fears are largely unwaranted, and feels the public would feel diferently about the plan if they were to better nform themselves about it. Details on the design of the system are vailable from the province. "A lot of the comments I've heard lead me o believe people are fairly uninformed," he aid. Camp Cedarwood, operated by the Winipeg-based Youth for Christ, currently has ine holding tanks on its premises that servce the main lodge and its guest quarters. It lso has a grey water pit. It costs the camp around $30,000 a year to ave its holding tanks pumped, but Plett says oney is not the main concern. "Right now we use disposable dishes ecause we don't want to overload our grey water pit," he says. "Our guests are very conerned about the environment and want us o get away from all the disposable dishes. at sends a lot of material to landfi ll." Cedarwood, located in the RM of Alexander, also has waste from its nine holding tanks hauled to the RM of Lac du Bonnet's lagoon, which is at capacity and needs upgrading to the tune of $1.6 million. Plett says the septic field system makes the most sense. If approved by the province, three fi elds in total will be installed. Th ey will take the form of a "sand mound" system, in which specially-selected sand is placed on top of the natural soil to help treat and dispose of septic tank effl uent. Solids are kept in the tanks themselves while the clarifi ed liquid that fl ows out of the tank will run off 150 metres into the bush and 100 metres from the Pinawa Bay shoreline. "It's the furthest away we can possibly go from the water. We're really going above and beyond what we need to, but we want to be as diligent as we can," Plett says. The camp also intends to install metering faucets in its showers and sinks to help reduce water consumption. He estimates around 10,000 litres a day goes into the camp's grey water system. "Th is whole system is being designed with the environment in mind," he says. Still, Pinawa Bay-area residents like Bill McKelvey are concerned the drainage pipes going into the bush could leak, discharging effl uent into Pinawa Bay. "All it takes is one 'oops' and the people who live along there have to pay the price," McKelvey says. Pinawa Bay has struggled with water quality issues for several years. During the summer of 2003, McKelvey and his wife were having their morning coff ee when they spotted their neighbour walking along the beach looking as if something was wrong. When they investigated, they found a large mass of what appeared to be sewage coating the water around the beach area. Another neighbour, who boated up the bay about 125 metres out from shore, saw sludge trailing behind his boat as he travelled as well. Residents suspected that someone in the area had discharged their holding tank Photo by Marc Zienkiewicz Camp Cedarwood's Brad Plett says the camp's septic field proposal is the best and most environmentally-friendly option for the facility, located on the shore of Pinawa Bay. into the bay. Such incidents have left the public fearful of a septic fi eld being installed in the area. Resident Daryll Hyslop fears a septic system near the water will add to high nitrogen and phosphorus levels in the bay. "If anything were to go wrong with this system, the bay would be unusable," he says. A public hearing will be held later this year, but the location and date has yet to be determined. Coun. Vera Cardinal says she's concerned the hearing will be held outside the region over the winter, which means many concerned residents will be unable to attend. Plett says there's a lot of misinformation out there about Camp Cedarwood itself. He said contrary to popular belief, the camp does not have a capacity of 300 campers. Its maximum capacity is 150, and usually only gets around 100. It has 40 staff members. He added the camp is a seasonal one, meaning for the majority of the year, the septic fi elds will not be heavily used. For a copy of the Camp Cedarwood proposal, contact provincial engineer Robert Boswick at robert.boswick@gov.mb.ca.

Music festival set for this weekend

By Marc Zienkiewicz Th e fourth annual Fire 'n Water Music Festival is set for the August long weekend in Lac du Bonnet, and organizer Sheldon Sveinson says it's going to be bigger and better than ever this year. "We've got a tremendous show planned, and I think last year's show really got a lot of buzz going and this year will be great," Sveinson says. There's a huge lineup of performers for this year's show, which has been pushed up to the August long weekend to help draw in the huge influx of visitors that come to the community that weekend. Performing this year are returning acts The Magnificent 7's and swing band The F-Holes, who both wowed the crowd last year as festival headliners. Other performers include Cara Luft, founding member of Juno Award-winning folk music trio The Wailin' Jennys, Flying Fox and the Hunter Gatherers (hailed by the Winnipeg Sun as one of Winnipeg's "most acclaimed bands") and multiple Canadian Juno Award-winner Bill Bourne, who performed in Lac du Bonnet two years ago as part of the Winnipeg Folk Festival Home Routes concert series. Th ere will also be a variety of kids' performers at the festival. Winnipeg's Alphabet Soup, Just Kiddin', and magicians Scott Burton will entertain the children during the weekend-long festival, which starts July 30. Once again, the event will be split into two parts - the evening cabaret shows will take place inside the Lac du Bonnet Community Centre (tickets are $15) while the outdoor stage portion is free and takes place during the Saturday and Sunday of the festival. MC for the evening shows will be Winnipeg comedian Big Daddy Tazz. Known as the "Bi- Polar Buddha," Tazz is equal parts comedian and motivational speaker who likes to enlighten, educate and inspire. As a result, his one-man shows have drawn rave reviews and standing Bill Bourne. ovations from coast-to-coast. For more info see fi renwater.ca.

USED OIL PROGRAM

The RM of Lac du Bonnet is promoting a program designed to provide an incentive for individuals to bring used oil to the Eco Centre. Effective August 1, 2010 the RM of Lac du Bonnet Transfer Station #313 will provide individuals when delivering used oil to the Eco Centre Depot as follows: One exchange per household when you bring to the Eco Centre 1 to 5 liters of used oil you will receive 1 liter of new oil. 6 to 10 liters of used oil you will receive 2 liters of new oil. 11 and above liters of used oil you will receive 3 liters new oil. The program will be honored to one member of the house hold per year with identifi cation. Program subject to limitations

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