Photo: The Society for the Protection of Kalamalka Lake

The Society for the Protection of Kalamalka Lake has started a petition to help keep the body of water clean.

A large septic system that can service more than 200 people is proposed to be built on a gravel deposit near Coldstream Creek. The building's location would be within 35 metres of the creek at 10080 Ricardo Road.

The septic system is for temporary farm worker housing for VegPro, an agricultural company that produces lettuce boxes.

“Gravel is porous and offers little protection from effluent spills or leaks,” states the petition.

”The septic system should either be moved away from the gravel deposit along the creek or built to the highest standard with ongoing monitoring, as required under the Municipal Wastewater Regulation.”

The effluent estimated by project engineers is 21,600 litres per day. This is just under a set threshold of 22,700 litres that would automatically require a review under the Municipal Wastewater Regulation.

With a margin of only 5 per cent, the society believed that the effluent could exceed this threshold during peak flow.

“Interior Health should require that the provincial authorities review the project, but they are refusing to bother,” the petition says.

A report given to the Greater Vernon Advisory Committee says leakage into the lake could increase the risks of things like algae blooms.

“This system has the potential for additional loading to Coldstream Creek of numerous parameters such as nitrates/nitrites, phosphates, pathogens and salt, all of which would decrease water quality and increase the risk of algae blooms,” the report says.

Photo: Contributed

The Society for the Protection of Kalamalka Lake also said that the concern is regarding water quality protection, not about the company's agriculture and food protection.

Castanet has reached out to VegPro but did not hear back by time of publication.

The petition can be found here.