Grease is building up again in the sewer pipes of Queen Charlotte.
At the management committee meeting February 19, maintenance supervisor Victor La Boucane told members he discovered a 2 inch rim of grease buildup on a six inch pipe when he lifted a manhole cover to work on the system.
The committee spent between $8,000 and $10,000 in December to clean the system. Mr. La Boucane says the company which cleaned the sewer did a good job, there's just too much grease going down the drains.
Restaurant grease is one part of the problem. All restaurants are supposed to have grease traps to catch grease before it enters the system. However, in Queen Charlotte most restaurants don't have the traps, and the ones which do can't clean them because no one on the islands has the equipment.
Residential grease is also a problem. Water/sewer commissioner Mark Salzl told the committee he sent residents a notice in the committee's latest newsletter asking people to avoid pouring grease down the drains.
Regional director Carol Kulesha said previous committees have considered a by-law, but decided that wouldn't solve the problem. Ms Kulesha, Ron McKee and office manager Debra Uliana will investigate the problem more fully to see if a solution can be found.