HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, April 15 (UPI) -- Raw human sewage from the eastern Canadian port city of Halifax, Nova Scotia, will flow unchecked into the harbor until next year, officials said.
On Jan. 14, an unexplained breakdown at the city's $54 million sewage treatment plant occurred, and city councilors were told Tuesday night the problem won't be fixed until at least the spring of 2010, the Chronicle-Herald newspaper reported.
Carl Yates, general manager of Halifax Water, briefed the council saying until the cause of the failure is isolated, repairs can't begin and new equipment could take six months to arrive.
It was also unclear as to who would eventually pay for the repairs, but Yates said there were two options to pursue before handing the bill to taxpayers.
"We'll look to insurance," he said. "We'll look to contractual obligations before we look to our ratepayers."
The January shutdown flooded the facility with nearly 2 million gallons of untreated waste, the report said.
