Ontario Clean Water Agency
The Ontario Clean Water Agency (OCWA) is a Crown agency of the Government of Ontario that provides operation, maintenance and management services for more than 450 water and wastewater treatment facilities in the province.
History
OCWA was created in 1993 by the NDP government of Premier Bob Rae under the Ontario Capital Investment Plan Act[1] and initially took over provincial ownership of 153 water-treatment plants and 77 sewage-treatment facilities. It also operated 116 municipally owned water and sewage facilities.[2]
By 1996, it had 800 employees and held contracts to operate 429 facilities in the province, comprising 25 per cent of Ontario's water-treatment plants and 57 per cent of the wastewater-treatment plants.[3] In October of that year, the Progressive Conservative government under Premier Mike Harris, which came to power in 1995, announced its plans to turn ownership of the facilities over to the municipalities and privatize OCWA as an environmental consulting firm.[4]
Ownership of the facilities was transferred to the municipalities, but OCWA was not sold. It was transformed into a management services organization and in 1998 won what was then Canada's largest water and wastewater operations and maintenance contract—a 10-year, $213 million deal to operate the South Peel system.[5] By 2000, OCWA operated and maintained more than 300 municipally-owned water and sewage treatment facilities on behalf of about 200 Ontario municipalities.[6]
Walkerton tragedy
In May 2000, an outbreak of E. coli contamination occurred in the water system of Walkerton, Ontario. In the aftermath of the disaster and the ensuing reforms to water treatment, the OCWA was put in charge of the cleanup of the water supply system of the town. This included a complete flushing of all the pipes in Walkerton, including those located in every building in the town.[7]
See also
Footnotes
- ^ "Crown agency to build new roads," Toronto Star, February 9, 1993, p.A1.
- ^ "8,000 new jobs from water plan; Ontario 'can't wait' for feds," The Hamilton Spectator, February 12, 1993, p.A3.
- ^ "Minister says water agency to be sold," Toronto Star, October 17, 1996
- ^ "Drinking water warning issued; Province's plan to shift costs to cities attacked," Toronto Star, December 4, 1996, p.A2
- ^ "OCWA beats private sector for Peel deal," Daily Commercial News and Construction Record, December 14, 1998, p.A1
- ^ "Key Ontario water agency listed up for grabs despite government denials," Canadian Press NewsWire, June 8, 2000
- ^ The Canadian Encyclopedia, "Walkerton Water Crisis Follow-up"
External links
- Ontario Clean Water Agency
- v
- t
- e
- Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs
- Attorney General
- Cabinet Office
- Children, Community and Social Services
- Citizenship and Multiculturalism
- Colleges and Universities
- Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade
- Education
- Energy
- Environment, Conservation and Parks
- Finance
- Francophone Affairs
- Public and Business Service Delivery
- Health
- Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries
- Indigenous Affairs
- Infrastructure
- Intergovernmental Affairs
- Labour, Training, Skills Development
- Long-Term Care
- Municipal Affairs and Housing
- Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry
- Seniors and Accessibility
- Solicitor General
- Transportation
- Treasury Board Secretariat
- Women's Issues
- Alcohol and Gaming Commission
- Civilian Police Commission
- Energy Board
- Fairness Commissioner
- Film Review Board
- Human Rights Commission
- Landlord and Tenant Board
- Liquor Control Board
- Mining and Lands Commissioner
- Northland Transportation Commission
- Municipal Board
- Niagara Escarpment Commission
- Niagara Parks Commission
- Securities Commission
- St. Lawrence Parks Commission
- Workplace Safety and Insurance Board
and corporations
- Agricorp
- Agricultural Research Institute
- Cancer Care
- Cannabis Retail Corporation
- Clean Water
- Conservation
- Ontario Health
- Cancer Care Ontario
- eHealth
- Trillium Gift of Life Network
- HealthForceOntario
- Health Quality
- Health Shared Services Ontario
- Local health integration networks
- Patient Ombudsman
- Financial Services Regulatory Authority
- Games Ontario
- Heritage Trust
- Independent Electricity System Operator
- Lottery and Gaming Corporation
- Metrolinx
- Municipal Property Assessment Corporation
- Northern Ontario Heritage Fund
- Ontario Place
- Parks
- Power Generation
- Public Health
- Real Estate Council
- Royal Ontario Museum
- Science Centre
- Science North
- Supply Ontario
- TFO
- TVO
- Archives
- Crown Attorney
- Forensic Sciences
- Independent Police Review Director
- Provincial Police
- ServiceOntario
- Special Investigations Unit