Associated Press has the story, which I found via MSNBC:
SEATTLE – For years, the British Columbia capital of Victoria has dumped tens of millions of gallons of raw sewage every day into the waters separating Washington state and Vancouver Island.
The resulting bad publicity stood in contrast to the city of prim and proper homes, shops, gardens and tea rooms worthy of its royal namesake. Victoria promotes itself as a tourist center, a gateway to the wilderness forests and rugged marine coast of Vancouver Island.
But both Victoria and Vancouver, 70 miles away, hope the bad image over the sewage is about to go away as Vancouver prepares to host the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Regional politicians last week approved a $1.2 billion plan to build four treatment plants to handle about 34 million gallons of raw sewage that Victoria and six suburbs pump into the Strait of Juan de Fuca each day. The strait separates the island from Washington’s Olympic Peninsula and leads to Puget Sound. The city and suburbs are home to about 300,000 people.
“Victoria’s reputation has been tarnished by our sewage treatment,” said Dean Fortin, who became Victoria’s mayor last fall. “This is our opportunity to move forward.”
