Victoria dumps more than 20 million gallons of untreated waste each day into the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

Although no toxicity testing is required, Victoria-area municipal governments have insisted that discharges from the Macauley Point outfall causes only "minimal" environmental impacts.

Although sewage effluent is discharged into a large body of water with strong currents and tidal movements, bacterial and metal pollution extends from one to two kilometers (.62 to 1.25 miles) away from the Macauley Point outfall.

Beginning in 1983, the fisheries ministry closed down shellfish harvesting in waters near the discharge outfalls in Victoria and Esquimalt. The closure area now totals more than 30 square miles of the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

	Macauley Point Victoria dumps more than 20 million gallons of untreated waste each day into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Although no toxicity testing is required, Victoria-area municipal governments have insisted that discharges from the Macauley Point outfall causes only "minimal" environmental impacts. Although sewage effluent is discharged into a large body of water with strong currents and tidal movements, bacterial and metal pollution extends from one to two kilometers (.62 to 1.25 miles) away from the Macauley Point outfall. Beginning in 1983, the fisheries ministry closed down shellfish harvesting in waters near the discharge outfalls in Victoria and Esquimalt. The closure area now totals more than 30 square miles of the Strait of Juan de Fuca.