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Policy Id:

SPR/SPA:

Risk:

LO-SEW-1

Central Lake Ontario, Credit Valley, Toronto

Significant

Implementing Body

Legal Effect

Policy Tool

Threat Type

Status

Comment

MECP - Wastewater/Sewage Works

Conform with

Prescribed Instruments

Existing

Implemented

Since May 2015, the Ministry has been screening environmental compliance approval (ECA) applications to determine if the activity is located in an area where the activity could be a significant drinking water threat. This is called the “primary screening”. Based on a set of criteria, an ECA application is flagged for a more detailed ‘secondary screening’ to determine if the activity associated with the application is a significant drinking water threat.

MECP - Wastewater/Sewage Works

Conform with

Prescribed Instruments

Future

Implemented

Since May 2015, the Ministry has been screening environmental compliance approval (ECA) applications to determine if the activity is located in an area where the activity could be a significant drinking water threat. This is called the “primary screening”. Based on a set of criteria, an ECA application is flagged for a more detailed ‘secondary screening’ to determine if the activity associated with the application is a significant drinking water threat.

MECP - Spills Response

Strategic

Specify Actions to be taken to implement plan or achieve its objectives

Future & Existing

Implemented

Spill response and notification procedures have been updated to geo-spatially determine if the spill is in a source protection vulnerable area. These new procedures ensure that if a spill has the potential to impact a drinking water treatment plant, the plant is notified along with any other affected parties. In addition, the ministry participates in various emergency response preparedness exercises at the request of industry, and supports testing of local emergency response plans with industry and municipalities. Regarding contingency and notification plans for wastewater treatment plants, all wastewater treatment plant environmental compliance approvals for significant threat facilities include a requirement for the operator to create and maintain a spill prevention and contingency plan, in accordance with Ontario Regulation 224/07. Recent environmental compliance approvals for wastewater treatment plants include a condition requiring the owner to develop a notification procedure, in consultation with the ministry, to ensure downstream water users are appropriately notified in the event of a bypass or overflow. Please also refer to the program area responses on environmental compliance approvals for further details.

Policy Text:

Where event based modelling has shown that a disinfection interruption at a Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP Diffuser) would cause a sewage treatment plant by-pass discharge to surface water or sewage treatment plant effluent to be a significant drinking water threat, the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks should:
a) review and amend Environmental Compliance Approvals to ensure they contain terms and conditions that ensure that the threats cease to be significant. Terms and conditions shall include a spill prevention and contingency plan. Consideration should also be given to the need for a year-round disinfection system and sufficient redundancy in the disinfection system to minimize the length of time that the disinfection system would not be working;
b) update spill notification protocols jointly with Spills Action Centre to ensure direct notification to all potentially affected water treatment plant operators and appropriate communication to the public and media;
c) review the notification protocols for significant threat activities and adjust the reporting protocols as required to ensure the water plant operators are notified appropriately for a given magnitude of spill;
d) ensure that information is communicated to all responsible parties (e.g., the originators of the spill, emergency response/clean-up personnel, medical officer of health, municipal water owner and water operating authority) who are responding to the spill; and
e) work with the Office of the Fire Marshal and Emergency Management to ensure that testing of the Contingency Plan is carried out within 3 years of the Source Protection Plan coming into effect, followed by regular (frequency and priority to be determined in consultation) emergency response preparedness exercises to address the significant threats identified.

Timelines:
T-1: Prescribed Instruments (existing) shall be reviewed (and amended, as necessary) within 3 years of the date the Source Protection Plan takes effect, or such other date as the Director determines.
T-3: The relevant Ministry shall comply with the Prescribed Instrument policy (future) immediately upon the date the Source Protection Plan takes effect.

Monitoring Text:

(MON-4)The provincial ministry shall, by February 1 of each year, prepare and submit a report to the Source Protection Authority on the actions taken in the previous calendar year to achieve the outcomes of the source protection policy. Reporting shall include information related to the effectiveness of the policies in ensuring a threat ceases to be, or does not become significant, and any actions required to respond to a drinking water threat during the reporting period.