City, residents sue over sewage flood in Kanata North homes

Lawsuitsare flowingout of a storm that pumped raw sewage into 44 homes in Ottawa's Kanata North neighbourhood two years ago.

Residents are suing the City of Ottawa, which they blamefor approving a development called Marshes Village on a nearby flood plainclose toShirley's Bay on the Ottawa River.

Meanwhile the city is suing the development company it says is responsible for the flood.

The citysays a construction road built to the new development blocked the flow of water, forcing it into a sewage pump station that became overloaded.

That shut it down and rerouted sewer water into basements of nearby residents.

According to the city, the road was not approved or inspected.

The developer, Kanata Research Park, declined to be interviewed by the CBC.

Gary Kelleher, one of the residents who had to deal with sewage in his home, blamed the city for not monitoring the developers more closely.

"Before they started construction, they did not have a permit and it was not inspected by the city," said Kelleher, who has since moved.

Dennis Jacobs, head of planning at the City of Ottawa, said residents were simply unlucky.

"A storm event occurred that happened to be coincidental with a construction project that wasn't finished," he said. "As a result, the system was overwhelmed by that storm."

Land raised,streamschanged for development

Ted Cooper, a water resources engineer working in Eastern Ontario, said more than bad luck was involved.

He noted that creeks, streams and ditches in Kanata North were re-engineered for development, and he said manipulating natural waterways like that inevitably leads to problems.

In the case of Marshes Village,amunicipal watershed studyhad previously recommended against building at that location.

However, the city approved changes to its official plan, rezoning of industrial landfor the development andthe special permits required to add fill to a flood plain. The land was raised, and streams were changed for the development.

Cooper is critical of the planning behind the approvals.

"I can't understand how development ended up where it's located," he said. "One would have to question why development was allowed to occur in the flood plain in the first place."