New signs will be placed around Bridgewater to educate locals and visitors about the health and safety threats of the LaHave
New signs warning visitors and locals of the potential health and safety threats of the LaHave River are set to be placed around Bridgewater.
The signs, which will be placed in three main areas of water access around town, will include information about the changing conditions of the LaHave waters.
“We really want to do our part to make sure people know that while the river is a dynamic area, there are times when its not necessarily going to be safe to have physical contact with it,” said Patrick Hirtle, communications officer for the Town of Bridgewater.
“Its a reality of the infrastructure challenges we face.”
The signs, Hirtle said, are just a small step towards educating and protecting people from the health and safety threats of the river while the town works on both short term and long term plans to fix the LaHave.
They will be placed at King Street Court, Shipyard Landing and Pijinuiskaq Park.
Although people are quick to blame straight pipes running from houses up the river as the cause of the pollution levels of the LaHave, Mayor David Mitchell said the town’s aging wastewater pump stations, which overflow during heavy rains, are a big contributor.
“These were built to do exactly what to do many years ago, back in a time when it was acceptable to discharge into a river,” he said.
“We know now, you can’t do that, but its the same from coast to coast as that is how they were designed. They weren’t designed for the climate of today, and we are hoping to change that.”
Currently, work is being to the wastewater piping under Dominion Street to separate the wastewater and rainwater pipes, which should lessen the load put on the pump stations by heavy rains.
The town has also applied for funding to do work on the pump stations themselves in order to upgrade them to today’s standards. This is part of their long term plan to replace all aging infrastructure in town, a project that carries a $40 million price tag.
Reported by: Cody McEachern
Twitter: @CodyInHiFi
E-mail: mceachern.cody@radioabl.ca
