Parks Canada has issued a warning to the Town of Banff over a sewage spill into the Bow River last November.
Parks Canada has issued a warning to the Town of Banff over a sewage spill into the Bow River last November.
The warning follows a second discharge of sewage into the Spray River on March 22, after a clogged pipe in the catchment area for the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel spilled between 10 and 20 cubic metres of raw sewage into the river.
"The warning letter from Parks Canada is not a finding of guilt or civil liability," said Diana Waltmann, the Town's communications director in a statement.
"It directs the Town to take the necessary corrective action to ensure compliance in the future. The letter does not recommend what actions the Town should take."
On Nov. 8 last year, an operator error led to a discharge of an estimated 19 cubic metres of sewage into the Bow River at the Wolf Street storm sewer outlet. A full bathtub is about one cubic metre.
It was discovered later that a sanitary sewer bypass was connected to the wrong pipe. No discharge material was found along the shoreline.
Upon discovery of the error, Waltmann said the Town immediately took steps to formalize its safe work procedure for bypassing sanitary sewers based on best practices, noting any Town project involving a sanitary sewer bypass must adhere to this procedure.
"The Town of Banff takes its obligation and role as stewards of the national park environment seriously," she wrote in the statement.
"This role and obligation was reviewed and reconfirmed with impacted staff and remains the top priority of the utility department and the Town.
In last Thursday's incident, crews doing regular inspections of manholes discovered a sewage discharge at about 3 p.m. at the manhole for the Banff Springs Hotel catchment into the Spray River, which connects to the Bow.
Waltmann said it's estimated to have occurred over a one- to two-hour period, and with the average rate of flow at the time, the discharge is estimated between 10 and 20 cubic metres.
The manhole in the Banff Springs Hotel catchment area, where the discharge was discovered, requires upgrading, she said.
"The cause of the discharge was clogged pipes - wipes, rags and grease," she said.
Parks Canada and Alberta Environment were immediately notified.
Law enforcement, aquatics and wildlife staff from Parks Canada directed the cleanup, while a vacuum truck was used to unclog the pipe.
"It's all been cleaned up," said Waltmann.
On Nov. 12 last year, a sewer pipe clogged with clumps of grease, rags, paper towels, baby wipes, even rubber gloves, forced an estimated 7.2 cubic metres of raw sewage out of a manhole under the bridge over the Spray River over a two-hour period.
Angela Moore, Fairmont's regional director of public relations, said the hotel is working with Parks Canada and the Town of Banff to investigate the cause of this most recent incident.
"The Fairmont Banff Springs is committed to ensuring that our property maintains the highest national and international standards for health and safety," she wrote in a statement.
"The health, safety, and security of our community, guests, and colleagues is our number one concern and priority."
The Town of Banff has been trying to educate businesses and residents about what not to flush down sinks, drains and toilets amid concerns items will clog sewer lines - as Sunday's incident is not the first time this has happened.
Last year, grizzly bear 148 was attracted to raw sewage that backed out of a manhole on the slopes of Sulphur Mountain. The six-and-a-half-year-old grizzly was shot and killed by a hunter in B.C. last September.
In 2012, a blocked pipe on the main sewage line connecting the Rimrock Resort Hotel, Banff Gondola and Parks Canada's Upper Hot Springs to the treatment plant forced raw sewage out through a manhole cover.
Parks Canada was unavailable for comment by press time.
