- MORE COLLABORATION OF PORT ANGELES & VICTORIA
- HALIFAX: CITY SPEND $11M ON SEWAGE PLANT
- CANADA REGULATING PRODUCTS CONTAINING MERCURY
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ISSUE OF CRD SEWAGE SLUDGE PROCESSING
SLUDGE PROCESSING FOR THE CORE AREA WASTEWATER TREATMENT PROGRAM
REPORT TO CORE AREA LIQUID WASTE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE / ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE MEETING OF WEDNESDAY 10 NOVEMBER 2010
ISSUE:
Some committee members have questioned the decision to process sludge using anaerobic digestion suggesting that a thermal destruction process should be reexamined.
CLICK HERE TO SEE 5-PAGE REPORT: http://www.crd.bc.ca/minutes/
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ARESST: Sewage plant excerpt from news story below:
Victoria’s efforts to start treating its sewage was mentioned only in passing. Currently, the city dumps 10.5 billion gallons of raw sewage into the Strait each year. British Columbia in August approved the construction of a $739 million treatment plant for greater Victoria. But completion could be at least 10 years away. Port Angeles, which has a sewage treatment plant, still sends some untreated effluent into Port Angeles Harbor when stormwater overflows its sewer system. It’s embarking on a $40 million project to reduce overflows from up to 110 a year to fewer than two a year on average. As part of its effort to treat the city’s sewage, Fortin said Victoria is interested in using sewage sludge — known as biosolids — for fertilizer. Port Angeles currently has such a program, Glenn Cutler, Port Angeles city public works and utilities director, said at the meeting.
MORE COLLABORATION GOAL OF PORT ANGELES & VICTORIA OFFICIALS
Tom Callis
Peninsula Daily News
Feb 27, 2011
Click here to send letter to editor letters@peninsuladailynews.com
VICTORIA — The meeting started with a Native American greeting and a Twilight joke and ended with what appeared to be a strong desire of officials from the cities of Port Angeles and Victoria to become better, more affable neighbors.
Despite their measurable differences, the two city councils and senior staff members from each municipal government found common ground — or at least common hurdles — on several issues, including tourism and sewage management, while holding a rare meeting at Victoria City Hall on Friday.
The two-hour meeting, jokingly called a gathering of vampires and werewolves by Victoria Mayor Dean Fortin, was the fourth held by the councils of the two cities — which are separated by the Strait of Juan de Fuca and an international border — and the first in more than three years.
Port Angeles City Manager Kent Myers said after the meeting that the two cities may begin hosting the gatherings twice a year, with the next one in Port Angeles this summer as removal of the two Elwha River dams begins.
Attending from Port Angeles were all council members but Pat Downie, who was out of the state.
Building ties
Speaking generally, Fortin and Port Angeles Mayor Dan Di Guilio both said they accomplished what they set out to do: build ties between the two communities.
“Really, ultimately, when you have those hands across the Strait, it is about helping neighbors,” said Fortin, who welcomed the visitors with a greeting used by Vancouver Island’s native people.
Said Di Guilio: “I saw a willingness from the folks in Victoria to do what they can do to work with Port Angeles and find those commitments to support each other.”
But the meeting went beyond political pleasantries.
Tourism — an economic driver in both communities — was a major topic, with both cities agreeing that they should join forces to attract visitors to Vancouver Island and the Olympic Peninsula.
Rather than competing for visitors, both governments agreed they could both gain by encouraging tourists to indulge in Victoria’s more vibrant, urban atmosphere and the rugged Olympic Mountains during the same trip.
Collaboration
“There’s potential for really good collaboration,” said Victoria City Council member Lynn Hunter, who is also a board member of Tourism Victoria.
Olympic Peninsula Visitor Bureau Executive Director Diane Schostak, who attended the meeting, said she plans to follow up on the idea with her counterparts across the water.
“It was a good start,” she said.
Attracting more Vancouver Islanders to visit the Peninsula was also discussed at a meeting the Port Angeles contingent had with Black Ball Ferry Line management in Victoria earlier in the day.
Representatives of Black Ball — which operates the MV Coho, the vehicle ferry that sails between the two cities — agreed with Schostak and council members that few people in Victoria know much about what the area has to offer for tourists.
Marketing Peninsula attractions to Vancouver Island will continue to be a focus for the company, they said.
“It’s a great opportunity, but it’s also a great challenge for us,” said Ryan Malane, Black Ball marketing director.
Waterfront plan
Port Angeles’ plans to redevelop its waterfront, its use of sewage waste to make fertilizer and the federal dam removal project on the Elwha River also piqued curiosity among the Victoria representatives.
Victoria City Councilman John Lutton said his city may be able to learn a few things from Port Angeles’ plan to make its waterfront more attractive for residents and visitors after viewing a presentation on the redevelopment effort.
“I love what I saw there,” he said after the meeting.
Lutton referred to his city’s waterfront as catering too much to vehicles.
“Our waterfront is a parking lot,” he said.
Myers invited the Victoria representatives to attend the dam removal celebrations in September.
Fortin said after the meeting that they “look forward” to joining the festivities.
Sewage treatment
Victoria’s efforts to start treating its sewage was mentioned only in passing.
Currently, the city dumps 10.5 billion gallons of raw sewage into the Strait each year.
British Columbia in August approved the construction of a $739 million treatment plant for greater Victoria. But completion could be at least 10 years away.
Port Angeles, which has a sewage treatment plant, still sends some untreated effluent into Port Angeles Harbor when stormwater overflows its sewer system.
It’s embarking on a $40 million project to reduce overflows from up to 110 a year to fewer than two a year on average.
As part of its effort to treat the city’s sewage, Fortin said Victoria is interested in using sewage sludge — known as biosolids — for fertilizer.
Port Angeles currently has such a program, Glenn Cutler, Port Angeles city public works and utilities director, said at the meeting.
The first meeting between the Port Angeles and Victoria councils was held in Port Angeles in 1997.
The focus of that meeting was on reducing barriers to cross-border trade and tourism, said Bob Cross, who was Victoria’s mayor at the time and is now a Black Ball board member.
While momentum was lost on that front after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Cross said, he is glad to hear that the meetings may start happening on a regular basis.
“You got to keep working on it,” he said, referring to the cross-border relationship.
“I think that obviously, trade and tourism mean a lot to both sides of the Strait and the border.
“Eight percent of Canada’s business is south of the border. It’s really important to keep this going.”
http://www.peninsuladailynews.
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ARESST: Some RSTV members have been following Halifax advanced-primary sewage plants problems for several years, starting with its original $190 million budget (now over $300 million and climbing), and through the 2-year shutdown of the biggest plant in their HRH system.
HALIFAX: CITY SPEND $11M ON SEWAGE PLANT
MICHAEL LIGHTSTONE
Halifax Chronicle Herald
2011-02-27
Municipal officials have been protecting local taxpayers to the "maximum extent possible" from any potential costs linked to the 2009 malfunction of the sewage treatment plant near downtown Halifax, a new report from the city’s water utility says.
The update to Mayor Peter Kelly and regional council from Halifax Water says $11 million has been spent on the plant’s resurrection. The utility has received about $9 million from an insurance company and a claim for about $1.1 million more has recently been submitted.
Halifax Water is preparing its final claim "to maximize recovery through the builder’s risk insurance policy," says the report, which will be discussed at Tuesday’s council’s session.
The $54-million plant officially opened in February 2008. It flooded about a year later after a power failure hit the neighbourhood. It was fully operational again in June 2010.
All commissioning — or testing — procedures were finished in mid-October, the report says.
The malfunction meant the largest of metro’s three relatively new sewage plants, part of the $333-million Harbour Solutions project, was knocked out of commission and untreated human waste was discharged into Halifax Harbour.
There was speculation ratepayers would be on the hook for possible repair costs, but the report says "a substantial security package" guarantees contractor performance during a three-year warranty period.
Also, the Harbour Solutions project has "numerous substantial insurance policies" to help shield taxpayers, it says.
"To the extent that (Halifax Water) may incur (sewage plant) recovery costs not eligible for reimbursement under the terms of the insurance policy, staff will seek recovery from the contractor if it is determined that the associated work should have initially been provided under the scope and terms of the project agreement," the report says.
The agreement includes "provisions which permit HRM to withhold payments if there are defaults and to hold back monies to cover the costs of any unremedied deficiencies," it says.
Prepared by John Lam, manager of the Harbour Solutions project, the report says overall, the sewage treatment program "remains within budget."
It says officials with Halifax Regional Municipality and its water utility are keenly cognizant of the need to guard the public purse.
City hall and Halifax Water "are working very closely with the insurer to ensure their position is not prejudiced in any way such that full cost recovery in accordance with the terms of the policy can be expected," it says.
As of the end of December, the Harbour Solutions project has spent $321.6 million of its capital budget. Projections to meet the budget of about $333 million "remain on target," the report says.
( mlightstone@herald.ca)
http://thechronicleherald.ca/
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GOVERNMENT OF CANADA BEGINS REGULATION OF PRODUCTS CONTAINING MERCURY
News Release
OTTAWA, Ont. -- February 28, 2011 -- The Honourable Peter Kent, Minister of the Environment, and the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health, today announced the start of a regulatory process to prohibit the manufacture, import, and sale of most mercury-containing products in Canada.
"These proposed regulations would eliminate about four and a half tonnes of mercury in products currently entering the Canadian marketplace each year. It is the first time that the Government of Canada is broadly regulating mercury found in manufactured products," said Minister Kent.
"Mercury is a neurotoxin. Ingesting methylmercury can affect the neuro-development and learning ability of small children. Keeping products that contain mercury out of the marketplace helps to protect the health of Canadians," added Minister Aglukkaq.
The main goal of the regulation is to reduce the amount of mercury entering the environment from products. In the environment, mercury can transform into methylmercury, a harmful form of the substance that is absorbed by living organisms, such as fish, and becomes more and more concentrated as it moves up the food chain.
The Government of Canada will still allow some important mercury-containing products to continue to be manufactured and imported, including scientific instruments, dental fillings, and fluorescent lamps. There will be limits on the amount of mercury allowed in different types of fluorescent lamps, and improved label information for consumers about the mercury in the products and how to safely dispose of them at the end of their useful lives.
The proposed Regulations Respecting Products Containing Certain Substances Listed in Schedule 1 to the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999, were published on Saturday February 26 in the Canada Gazette, Part I, for a 75-day comment period. Interested parties are encouraged to submit comments on the proposed regulations before May 12, 2011.
This proposed regulation, along with Canada's integrated risk management strategy for mercury and ongoing international efforts to reduce mercury emissions, demonstrate the Government of Canada's national and international leadership on mercury management.
Related document:
Proposed Regulation of Mercury-Containing Products in Canada
http://www.ec.gc.ca/default.
http://www.ec.gc.ca/default.
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http://www.ec.gc.ca/default.
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