Water system upgrades underway: over 50 funding applications approved.Northern Ontario Northern Ontario is the part of the province of Ontario which lies north of Lake Huron (including Georgian Bay), the French River and Lake Nipissing. Northern Ontario has a land area of 802,000 km² (310,000 mi²) and constitutes 87% of the land area of Ontario, although it communities have more time now to apply for drinking water drinking water supply of water available to animals for drinking supplied via nipples, in troughs, dams, ponds and larger natural water sources; an insufficient supply leads to dehydration; it can be the source of infection, e.g. leptospirosis, salmonellosis, or of poisoning, e.g. infrastructure renewal funding under the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund The Northern Ontario Heritage Fund is a division of the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines in the Canadian province of Ontario, whose purpose is to provide funding and program support to foster economic development in the economically disadvantaged Northern Ontario region. Drinking Water Protection Program. In Ontario, a one-third split between the federal, provincial and municipal levels of government funds infrastructure improvements. The Ontario Small Town and Rural Development (OSTAR OSTAR Ontario Small Town and Rural Program OSTAR Observer Singlehanded Trans-Atlantic Race (sponsored by UK newspaper Observer) OSTAR Order and Shipping Time Analysis Report ) infrastructure initiative provides additional funding under Round 1, Option 1 of the initiative to top up municipal funding of their infrastructure renewal. The provincial government announced that it was extending this Drinking Water Protection Program, which began in 2000. Consequently, northern communities now have until the end of 2005 to apply for funding to support the infrastructure upgrades to their systems that will assure safe drinking water. The maximum contribution is one-half of the municipality's contribution toward the project, to a maximum of $4 million. Michael Lavoie, spokesperson for the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines office in Sudbury, says there are about 50 applications for funding from Northern Ontario communities approved out of 80 received. "It's a very complex process," says Christine Dukelow, director of the rural investment branch of the Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs. "Under (Ontario Clean Water) regulations, every municipality has to undergo an engineering study. That study may be all that's needed. But if they had a system that was under the influence of surface water, then they have to look at an additional study to determine to what extent it was because that would mean going to additional treatment versus just chlorination chlorination Public health Addition of chlorinated compounds to drinking water as disinfectants. Cf Ozonation. . It becomes very complex. "The important thing about this announcement ... it says that (municipalities) will now have longer to engage that support," she says. OSTAR is one of two programs launched by the Ontario government. The other one, the Millennium Partnership under the Ontario SuperBuild, covers larger municipalities such as Sudbury and Thunder Bay, but OSTAR is assisting several other municipalities, including Sault Ste. Marie Sault Sainte Marie — pronounced "Soo Saint Marie" (IPA /su seɪnt məˈɹi/) — is the name of two cities on the Saint Marys River, which forms part of the boundary between the United States and Canada. , North Bay and others. Information on the status of Ontario's various municipal water system upgrades is difficult to aquire, according to Ontario Ministry of Environment officials since the status of municipalities' water systems are tracked on a system-by-system basis. Ministry of Environment spokesman John Steele says there are 700 municipalities in Ontario There are currently 445 municipalities in Ontario. These municipalities are divided into different structural tiers. A "local municipality" may be called a city, a town, a township, a municipality or a village and can also be referred to as a "lower tier" municipality. that are having their systems inspected every day, sometimes several times per day, by area inspectors. Many communities in the North have asked the ministry's environmental approvals branch for an extension for upgrades to be carried out, and many have received extensions. By ANDREW WAREING Northern Ontario Business Northern Ontario Business is a Canadian magazine, which publishes monthly in Greater Sudbury, Ontario. The magazine covers business news and issues in Northern Ontario. |
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