The Walkerton Inquiry Commissioned Paper 1 Water Supply and Sewage Infrastructure in Ontario, 1880–1990s: Legal and Institutional Aspects of Public Health and Environmental History By Jamie Benidickson Toronto 2002 © Queen’s Printer for Ontario, 2002 Published by Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General This paper and other Walkerton Inquiry Commissioned Papers are available on the Walkerton Inquiry CD-ROM and at <www.walkertoninquiry.com> with the complete final report. General editor, Commissioned Papers: Sheila Protti Editor: Sheila Protti Proofreader: Robyn Packard Design: Madeline Koch, Wordcraft Services; Brian Grebow, BG Communications Abstract Jamie Benidickson surveys the evolution of water supply and sewage treatment in Ontario from the late 1880s to the late 1990s. Dividing the period into historical segments, the author focuses on legislative and institutional development, provincial government activity, the growth of municipal infrastructure, international influences, and legal and enforcement considerations that resulted in Ontario’s water supply and sewage treatment arrangements at the end of the1990s. The author describes and discusses key legislative initiatives and significant legal cases that influenced water delivery and sewage treatment in Ontario. In surveying the activity, the paper indicates attitudes and approaches to water and its uses, tracing the developing realization of the importance of maintaining a reliable supply of ‘pure and wholesome’ water. This realization led to public health measures for water protection and, hence, government involvement, with the local level as the supplier of the water and the province as the responsible agent for supervising its distribution and protecting its quality. Benidickson leads the reader through the development of boards of health, conservation organizations, and water management agencies, including the Pollution Control Board of Ontario and the Ontario Water Resources Commission, as well as federal (Canada Water Act) and international measures (Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement). In examining the instruments that protect our water and enable its distribution, and in outlining the activities – such as environmental court cases – that instigated those instruments, the author presents a context in which to understand the status quo of water supply and wastewater treatment in the Ontario of the early twenty-first century. Water Supply and Sewage Infrastructure in Ontario, 1880–1990s i Contents 1Introduction ............................................................................................ 1 2The Public Health Era: 1880–1930 ................................................. 3 2.1 Legislative and Institutional Developments .................................... 3 2.2 Water and Sewage Infrastructure .................................................. 11 2.2.1 Quality and the Choice of Supply ....................................... 16 2.2.2 Ottawa – The Search for an Alternative Water Supply ........ 18 2.2.3 Sewage Treatment – Slow to Come ..................................... 20 2.3 Legal and Enforcement Matters.................................................... 22 2.3.1 The “Big Odor” Case: The Fieldhouse Claim ..................... 23 2.3.2 Kingsville, Ont., and “Gross Pollution” ............................... 28 2.4 Federal Initiatives ......................................................................... 29 2.5 International Considerations ........................................................ 30 3 Depression and Wartime: 1930–1945 .........................................37 3.1 Legislative and Institutional Developments .................................. 37 3.2 Water and Sewage Infrastructure .................................................. 38 3.3 Federal Initiatives and International Dimensions.......................... 44 3.4 Legal and Enforcement Matters.................................................... 45 4Postwar Reconstruction: 1945–1956 ...........................................50 4.1 Legislative and Institutional Developments .................................. 50 4.1.1 Health, and Lands and Forests ............................................ 50 4.1.2 Conservation Authorities Act, 1946 .................................... 50 4.1.3 Select Committee of the Ontario Legislature on Conservation, 1950 ....................................................... 51 4.1.4 The Ontario Water Resources and Supply Committee ........ 53 4.1.5 The Pollution Control Board of Ontario ............................ 54 4.2 Water and Sewage Infrastructure .................................................. 56 4.3 Federal Initiatives and International Considerations ..................... 59 4.4 Legal and Enforcement Matters.................................................... 61 4.4.1 Trenton: Why Did These People Need Persuading?............. 62 4.4.2 Chatham: What Race Is This Tortoise In? ........................... 63 4.4.3 Rampant Riparianism ......................................................... 64 5The Ontario Water Resources Commission: 1956–1972 ....... 74 5.1 Legislative and Institutional Developments .................................. 74 5.1.1 The OWRC – Decision Making on Waterworks and Sewage Systems ............................................................ 82 5.2 Water and Sewage Infrastructure .................................................. 84 ii Walkerton Inquiry Commissioned Paper 1 5.3 Federal Government Initiatives..................................................... 85 5.3.1 National Housing Act Amendments ................................... 85 5.3.2 Resources for Tomorrow ..................................................... 87 5.4 Legal and Enforcement Matters.................................................... 89 5.4.1 Trailer Park Follies .............................................................. 91 5.4.2 The Cannery Caper ............................................................ 93 5.4.3 Small Fish ........................................................................... 95 5.4.4 Pigging Out on the Scotch .................................................. 99 5.4.5 Actions against Municipalities ........................................... 101 5.4.6 The Plating Industry ......................................................... 102 5.4.6.1 Brass Craft, Riverside, Ont. .................................. 102 5.4.6.2 British Chrome and Chemical, Cornwall, Ont. .... 104 5.4.7 The Nature of the Regulatory Offence .............................. 106 5.4.7.1 Engaging the Legal Liability Issues ....................... 106 5.4.7.2 Elements of the Offence: The Guilty Mind? ......... 107 5.4.7.3 Moving the Fault Line at Sault Ste. Marie ............ 109 5.4.7.4 Environmental Pollution: Routine Matters Pose New Problems .............................................. 112 6 Environment, Economy, and Efficiency: 1972–1990s .......... 115 6.1 Legislative and Institutional Developments ................................ 115 6.1.1 Government Reorganization and Public Participation ....... 115 6.1.2 Proliferating Ideas and Institutions.................................... 117 6.1.2.1 Water Management Involvement in Ontario ........ 120 6.2 Water and Sewage Infrastructure ................................................ 123 6.2.1 Training and Qualifications .............................................. 124 6.2.2 Consumption and Sources of Supply ................................ 127 6.2.3 Water-Taking Permits ....................................................... 131 6.2.4 Safeguarding Drinking Water and Ambient Water Quality ................................................................... 132 6.3 Federal Initiatives ....................................................................... 138 6.4 International Considerations ...................................................... 143 6.4.1 IJC and the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement ........... 143 6.5 Legal and Enforcement Matters.................................................. 147 7 Concluding Comments .................................................................. 150 Water Supply and Sewage Infrastructure in Ontario, 1880–1990s iii Appendix 1: Water Filtration Plants in Ontario, 1890–1936 ........................................................................................ 153 Appendix 2: Municipal Sewage Treatment in Ontario, 1904–1934 ........................................................................................ 155 Appendix 3: Ontario Water Resources and Supply Committee – Terms of Reference............................................... 158 Appendix 4: Objectives for Water Quality Control in Ontario ........................................................................................... 160 Appendix 5: An Act Respecting the KVP Company Limited.... 164 Appendix 6: Government of Ontario Initiatives on Water Quality, 1880s–1990s .................................................. 166 References .............................................................................................. 168 Tables Table 2-1 Potable Public Water Supply and Population Summary, City of Toronto ...................................................................... 14 Table 3-1 Ontario Waterworks and Sewage Expenditures, 1929–1945 ............................................................................ 40 Table 3-2 Ontario Water Treatment Facilities, 1945 ............................... 44 Table 5-1 Ontario Waterworks Expenditure Approvals, 1950–1972 ...... 86 Table 6-1