Patrick Mitchell, the managing director of the wastewater treatment consulting firm Biosafe, explains the Greenland treatment plant on Tuesday afternoon. Photo: JASON SMITH

A temporary fix to the decades-old problem of raw sewage running in the streets of Greenland has allowed more than 60 residents in the community to be connected to a public sewer system for the first time, officials said Tuesday afternoon.

Patrick Mitchell, the managing director of the wastewater treatment consulting firm Biosafe, explains the Greenland treatment plant on Tuesday afternoon. Photo: JASON SMITH
Speaking at the inauguration of a temporary sewage treatment plant recently installed in the area, legislators asked residents to sniff the air and recognise that the fecal smell was gone.

“Ladies and gentlemen look around you: No longer is there any wastewater running in the streets, creating an unsanitary, unhealthy situation in the area,” Deputy Premier Dr. Kedrick Pickering said. “Ever since this plant has been built, there’s been no raw sewage in the streets, there’s been no foul odour in the air, there’s been no reason to avoid this area at all costs.”

Unlike Road Town, communities in East End/Long Look lack access to a central public sewer system. Instead, households and businesses rely on septic tanks, many of which are aging and in disrepair, causing untreated sewage to overflow into the streets.

 

See the June 19, 2014 edition for full coverage.

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