Senator Charles Schumer wants federal agencies to work with Canadian officials to stop the city of Montreal's plan to dump of raw sewage into the St. Lawrence River. But a former Congressman says the U.S has no jurisdiction in the issue.
Montreal officials are planning to dump 2 billion liters of raw sewage into the St. Lawrence River over the course of a week starting Oct. 18. The mayor says it is necessary to rebuild a riverside expressway.
The discharge would be in Canadian waters downstream from U.S. communities.
Former Congressman Bill Owens represented the district on the U.S. border. He says the only entity with control over the river is the joint commission. “They have a very narrow charter. So I don’t know that anyone actually has authority to stop it.”
Senator Schumer has asked the EPA to work with the State department and Canadian authorities to find an alternative to the sewage dumping plan.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. Copyright 2015. All rights reserved.