Kamloops Septic Services was not dumping raw sewage on Tk'emlups te Secwepemc land on Dec. 29, 2022, despite claims from a video shared widely on social media.
Image Credit: TIKTOK/timrichardson721
December 30, 2022 - 6:00 PM
A video purported to show a septic truck dumping raw sewage on Tk'emlups te Secwepemc land is making rounds online, leading to threats directed at the company's owner.
But it wasn't raw waste at all.
"On the reserve land, especially the flat lands, they don't have a lot of drainage. So whenever theres a quick rain event or melt off, they get massive flooding and it starts going into the buildings," Kamloops Septic Service owner Carson Dorward said. "We go in and start sucking up the puddles."
The video was posted on TikTok, where it's been shared widely on multiple platforms.
"He's dumping live, gross septic right into the bare ground," said a man presumably recording the video.
Tk'emlups Kukpi7 (Chief) Rosanne Casimir said she was initially concerned when one of the Band's councillors sent it to her yesterday, Dec. 29.
"Then when I looked at it I though, oh my goodness that is horrible," Casimir said, adding raw sewage has been dumped on reserve land by another company at least once before.
She was soon put to ease when she learned what was actually dumped near the base of Mount Paul yesterday.
"A picture can say a thousand words but without knowing the full story, making assumptions... paints the wrong picture and it is truly defaming," the Chief said.
Dorward said the provincial ministry of environment called him last night, but the matter was quickly put to rest.
He got another phone call from someone "threatening" him last night and saw people suggesting they slash the tires on his company vehicles in the video's comments.
"It's flat out defamation," Dorward said. "If I was going to do that, I think I'd find a spot that's not right beside a major intersection."
He didn't specify whether he would pursue legal action, but he has successfully reached out to the person who took the video to have it removed.
Unfortunately for Dorward, it still exists on TikTok and other platforms as other users share it online.
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