Halifax beach sweeps revived to clean up floatables

The Halifax beach sweepers will be out once more now that sewage solids are once again flowing into the harbour.

The smelly and unsightly solids, known as floatables,have been washing up along the Halifax waterfront since the municipality removed several screens from sewage outfall stations last week.

The floatables are visible on Black Rock Beach in Point Pleasant Park. Tampon applicators and condoms also litter the beach.

Mayor Peter Kelly said the mess has forced the municipality to revive cleanup sweeps at that location, as well asDingle beach.

'We could have done a better job in communications.' Mayor Peter Kelly

"This is not overall a pleasant situation," headmitted to CBC News on Friday.

Just last summer, Kelly took a dip at Black Rock to celebrate the successful operation of the municipality's $333-million Harbour Solutions project and the drop in bacteria counts.

But in January, the $54-million Halifax sewage treatment plant malfunctioned, causing the station to overflow with raw sewage. It's not expected to be backin operation until next spring.

Last week, Halifax Water, the municipality's water commission, quietly began removingthe screens that were catching the floatables. An official said it wasdone to protect the machinery, since the screens were never meant to work continuously.

Kelly said four of the special screens have been removed and another four are to be taken away.

He admits the public should have been told about the decision to open the floodgates.

"We could have done a better job in communications, absolutely. Unfortunately, we didn't," Kelly said. "We need to be proactive and have an ongoing information piece."

Mark Butler, with the Ecology Action Centre, said this latest setback makes him laugh and cry.

"We are where we were before the treatment plant, where raw sewage is going into the harbour and everything that goes with it too," said Butler.

Halifax regional council is expected to get a closed-door briefing on the failed treatment plant on Tuesday.