CRD-RELATED SEWAGE NEWS:
- COLWOOD WANTS HALF CRD'S SUGGESTED SEWAGE TREATMENT CAPACITY
- COLWOOD LOOKS TO DEVELOPERS FOR SEWAGE-SYSTEM SAVINGS
- LETTER: HYPOCRITES (GIUFFRE)
- LETTER: CRD SHOULD SEEK EXEMPTION TO FEDERAL REQUIREMENTS TO TREAT SEWAGE (FURBER)
- LETTER: COST OF BUILDING, OPERATING TREATMENT FACILITY NOT WORTH THE MONEY (SMITH, R)
- LETTER: EVIDENCE SUPPORTING WHY WE NEED TO TREAT SEWAGE IS LACKING (SMITH, E)
GENERAL SEWAGE-RELATED NEWS:
ARTICLE LINK: "MARINE SNOW": DEAD ORGANISMS AND POOP AS MANNA IN THE OCEAN
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ARESSTERs: You've signed our petition, so now do you have family, friends, fellow-facebookers
or bloggers who you can ask to sign too?
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COLWOOD WANTS HALF CRD'S SUGGESTED SEWAGE TREATMENT CAPACITY
Kyle Wells
Goldstream News Gazette
July 29, 2012 4:02 PM
Colwood city council has decided to buy into the Capital Regional District's (CRD) proposed new sewer treatment plant for half of the capacity originally anticipated.
On July 23, council passed a motion to request enough capacity to serve a population of 11,500 sewer users, based on a projected population growth of about two per cent per year until 2020.
The CRD had estimated Colwood to have a population growth rate of 3.65 per cent per year. Michael Baxter, Colwood's director of engineering, has run his own numbers and believes the two per cent to be a more realistic estimate.
Under that formula, the estimated increase to property taxes is $27 for a $400,000 property. If Colwood were to buy in at the CRD's capacity estimation the increase would be closer to $193 for the same property.
Colwood, and all other municipalities involved, must decide how much capacity in the proposed treatment plant it requires. The hitch is that Colwood, a city growing in size, must buy in now for its anticipated growth for the next 20 years.
With the two per cent guideline the population is expected to increase by just over 2,700 residents by 2020. A further 800 residents are expected to move from septic systems to sewer by that time as well.
Coun. Shari Lukens, along with Coun. Teresa Harvey, voted against the motion, saying Colwood needs more exact information on price before making a decision. The costs provided by the CRD are estimates and if the project runs over budget that will fall back onto the taxpayer's shoulders.
"It's going to be probably the biggest decision we as a council make in our term, and I've never taken out a mortgage without knowing all of my costs," Lukens said. "I think they need to hear that Colwood's situation is very different than any of the others ... that are participating in this."
The next step, though less urgent, is to figure out who is going to pay for the capacity.
"The people who are on sewer feel the costs should be borne by everybody and the people who are on septic feel the costs should be borne by the sewer users," Coun. Judith Cullington said. "They are certainly very good arguments on both sides. In fact, neither of them, in my opinion, is fair. But we have to find a way of moving forward on this."
Sometime after the summer, Colwood plans to have a transportation and infrastructure committee meeting and will be asking for a CRD member to take part to answer questions from the public.
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COLWOOD LOOKS TO DEVELOPERS FOR SEWAGE-SYSTEM SAVINGS
Derek Spalding
Times Colonist
August 01, 2012
Colwood city council wants to reduce sewage costs for its residents by supporting a wastewater treatment system included in the design of one of the city's largest developments.
League Financial Partners, the company behind the $1-billion Capital City Centre project at the site known as Colwood Corners, plans to reduce water use and energy needs for the massive development by recovering heat and water from sewage and wastewater.
The first part of the two-phase plan would recover heat from a nearby sewer line operated by the Capital Regional District.
The second phase would involve creating an on-site wastewater treatment plant that would recover treated water to use for flushing toilets and irrigation.
The overall plan is expected to reduce the site's requirements for water by 40 per cent and reduce its energy requirements by 60 per cent, according DEC Engineering, which is working with League.
"We're integrating both district energy and water from wastewater, so by doing that, we're sharing the cost of energy and water and reducing the overall cost to the ratepayer," said Erik Lindquist, DEC's principal of alternative energy. "We plan to start with Capital City Centre and expand it into the community."
Considering the scope of the project, the savings would be significant. In the next 20 years, League Financial plans to build 12 residential highrise towers, four office towers, four-storey residential buildings, two-storey town-homes, multi-storey office buildings and a public plaza with various amenities.
Coun. Judith Cullington said the system could also save Colwood residents money when it comes time to pay for the Capital Regional District's portion of the $783-million secondary sewage system.
The CRD's portion of the secondary sewage treatment is expected to cost up to $281 million, with estimates for each resident's share ranging between $100 to $800 a year.
In established and densely populated communities like Victoria, that cost can be borne by a larger number of residents. But because Colwood is growing so rapidly, the politicians have to decide how they want to spread the sewage costs around.
With significant developments on the way, the politicians say they could plan for their current needs as well as their future sewage requirements by working with major developers to provide their own sewage system.
"It puts the cost of new development on the new residents, not on the current ones, who don't need to pay for someone else's sewage," Cullington said.
Colwood engineering director Michael Baxter said the city and the developer need to work with the CRD to come up with changes to the liquid waste management plan.
League Financial Partners is submitting a proposal to the CRD asking permission to recover heat from a main sewage line near the property along the Galloping Goose trail.
The regional district does not have a policy for this type of system yet, according to Dan Telford, senior manager of the CRD's environmental engineering. "The talks are very preliminary. We know what's going on, but we're just waiting," he said.
dspalding@timescolonist.com
http://www2.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/capital_van_isl/story.html?id=93f49b3b-eb88-41d9-9187-2e84ed395b43
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LETTER: HYPOCRITES (GIUFFRE)
BY PETER V. GIUFFRE
CALGARY HERALD
JULY 29, 2012
Is "Beautiful British Columbia" really pristine? The granola B.C.'ers pontificate "we are green environmental leaders" as they drive their beater, oil-burning cars and roast their veggiedogs over wood-burning fires. David Suzuki, are you riding your bike everywhere?
Why are you dumping raw sewage from Vancouver Island directly in the Strait of Juan de Fuca? What else are you dumping in the ocean? Maybe a chemical cesspool from your wood and paper mills?
The joke is that islanders nickname the ocean the "chuck" because everything gets dumped in it.
Stop beating your chests like you are the poster child of green Canada. Do you need pipeline revenue to clean up your act? Clean up your backyard. Shame on you, B.C. You're a truly dirty province.
Peter V. Giuffre,
Calgary
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LETTER: CRD SHOULD SEEK EXEMPTION TO FEDERAL REQUIREMENTS TO TREAT SEWAGE (FURBER)
Saanich News
July 31, 2012
CRD director Geoff Young, Denise Blackwell and other CRD directors tell us we must proceed with the sewage treatment plan, not because it will help the ocean, but because they have been ordered to do so to meet new federal regulations.
Listening to this, you would think the order is etched in stone. It is not.
Numerous areas in Canada in the North are exempt in the regulations because of their unique receiving environments. Victoria has a unique marine receiving environment.
The question, “Why is our region not demanding an exemption from the regulations?,” must be answered.
There is wording in the newly proclaimed Wastewater Systems Effluent Regulations that acknowledges that “open marine waters,” like those off Victoria, are of low risk and can be exempt from providing secondary sewage treatment in the near future.
All the evidence tells us the regulations make no ecological sense for Victoria’s unique marine receiving environment.
When director Geoff Young says the region has no plans to apply for an exemption, we have to ask ourselves who is looking after our eco-bucks and why they are prepared to condone squandering these precious eco-bucks on a bad plan?
Bob Furber
Saanich
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LETTER: COST OF BUILDING, OPERATING TREATMENT FACILITY NOT WORTH THE MONEY (SMITH, R)
Saanich News
July 31, 2012
May I recommend that readers give their most careful attention to Denise Blackwell’s letter (CRD wastewater must be treated, July 25) regarding the “anticipated” cost of the CRD’s planned sewage plant. Is she speaking as a lawyer, a financial expert or just a visionary planner?
May we ask if she has thoroughly examined the implications of “Part 2 – Prohibitions and Authorizations” of the Environmental Management Act 2003 and taken account of the Environmental Management Amendment Act of 2004 or noted that the Municipal Sewage Regulation that she cites was repealed in April this year and replaced by the new Municipal Wastewater Regulation?
The value and intent of these complicated pieces of legislation will cost far less to test in the courts than even the day-to-day running costs of her mammoth sewage works.
The spending of over $1 billion on an unnecessary sewage plant in British Columbia will no longer be ignored in isolation by the world’s financial markets.
I challenge Denise Blackwell to produce full and thoroughly supported calculations of the CRD’s analysis of projected costs and increased property taxes.
Ralph Smith
Saanich
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LETTER: EVIDENCE SUPPORTING WHY WE NEED TO TREAT SEWAGE IS LACKING (SMITH, E)
Saanich News
July 31, 2012
There is no scientific, environmental or even esthetic reason to spend this money.
The whole thing was apparently started by some underemployed, but a school teacher who ran around dressed like a turd (Mr. Floatie) to stimulate an emotional response to a non-problem.
There isn’t a shred of visible or scientific evidence to show there is a danger to anything from our sewage outfall.
Some politicians see an issue to ride to re-election and some bureaucrats see a way to get a leg up to the next promotion so the legislation is drafted to get the money moving without regard to the facts.
Earl Smith
Saanich
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ARTICLE LINK: "MARINE SNOW": DEAD ORGANISMS AND POOP AS MANNA IN THE OCEAN"
Hannah Waters
American Society of Microbiology
20 September 2010
Marine snow: does the phrase make you think of fish wearing ice skates, seahorses in knit caps, and crabs building snow-fish?
If so, I can’t entirely blame you: the stuff looks like snow, hence its name. But marine snow is not composed of frozen water, each flake unique and beautiful.
It is, in fact, made up entirely of dead organisms, poop, and random junk floating in the ocean. (Still fancy a marine snowball fight?)
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