HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, May 29 (UPI) -- Solid sewage screens to the Atlantic Ocean are being removed in Halifax, Nova Scotia, overwhelmed after a treatment plant failure, Canadian officials said.
Four of the eight outflow screens to Halifax Harbor were removed as they were overloaded after a Jan. 14 hydraulic failure at the city's newest $54 million sewage treatment plant, the Chronicle-Herald newspaper said.
Mayor Peter Kelly coined a new term telling reporters it was "unfortunate" such items as tampon applicators, condoms and larger sewage items were freely flowing into the harbor.
"You don't want to see floatables in the harbor, and in particular along the waterfront, and in more particular during the busy tourist season," he said.
An investigation is under way as to what caused the plant failure, but little has been disclosed, and much of the city of 360,000 people's sewage is flowing into the harbor untreated since the screens' removal, the newspaper said.
City officials were quick to assure residents insurance would cover the cost of the plant failure, but there has been no report on the environmental impact on the harbor and ocean.
