REVELATIONS of exactly what City of Terrace employees have to deal with when it comes to maintaining the city’s sewer system are eye-opening at best and disturbing at worst.
As detailed in a Jan. 1, 2014 front page story by reporter Josh Massey, anything goes it seems – right down the toilet.
Even dental floss, the seemingly most innocuous of items that could conceivably be found in a house, is on the list of things that should not be flushed because it wraps around propellers and pumps.
There are several reasons why citizens should not be flushing things like dental floss, condoms, tampons and the like.
First, it’s a financial issue. Dealing with these items costs tax money and it’s money that could better be spent in direct citizen services such as recreation or at the library.
Secondly, if we so casually flush away items which do not break down, what kind of liquids also end up in the sewer system and, by extension, eventually into the Skeena River?
That list is probably long and the items on it toxic and harmful.
Years ago bright yellow fish symbols were painted right next to storm water drains as a reminder that whatever enters the drain can affect what lives in the river.
If only those symbols could be painted in the bathrooms and kitchens of our homes.