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As Victoria readies a long-awaited $780-million plan to stop dumping raw sewage into the Pacific Ocean, a coalition of top ocean scientists are decrying the project as nothing more than pandering to a squeamish electorate.

“It all comes down to the ‘icky factor’; people don’t like the idea of putting poop in the ocean,” said Tom Pedersen, director of the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions. “The truth is, we’re in a very fortunate position here in Victoria in which to discharge sewage into a marine setting.”

Almost all of Victoria’s sewage — about 1,500 liters per second — is discharged through two pipes running more than a kilometre off the city’s southern coast. Aside from a 6mm mesh that sieves out condoms, feminine products and other large particulates, the sewage is untreated.

The new plan, announced last week at an upscale hotel on the Victoria waterfront, would see sewage funneled to a waterfront treatment plant at the entrance to the city’s iconic Inner Harbour. After liquid sewage was filtered away, the remaining “sludge” would be piped 20 kilometres north to a “biosolids digestion facility” at the city’s Hartland Landfill. “Its time has come, and we’re taking action,” said Conservative MP James Moore.