CRD SEWAGE NEWS:
Audio-Visual News:
- Mayor Desjardins on CFAX 16 June
- June 13, 2014 CHEK covers Westshore sewage meet
- Chris Corps on CFAX 17 June
- No cost sewage plant for Esquimalt
News stories:
- June 13, 2014 CHEK covers Westshore sewage meet
- Chris Corps on CFAX 17 June
- No cost sewage plant for Esquimalt
- CTV's Robert Buffam
- Isitt 'pigs' comment at CRD meeting
- The RITE Plan's Youtube ChannelNews stories:
- ‘Free’ plant an insult, Esquimalt mayor says
- Frank Stanford comment June 19 2014
- CRD board offers Esquimalt more incentives for wastewater site as deadline looms
- Poll - what does it really mean?
- Time to challenge federal government on sewage: group
- 'Astounding' hit lurks in sewage mess
LETTERS:
- Frank Stanford comment June 19 2014
- CRD board offers Esquimalt more incentives for wastewater site as deadline looms
- Poll - what does it really mean?
- Time to challenge federal government on sewage: group
- 'Astounding' hit lurks in sewage mess
LETTERS:
- Troubling aspects to sewage-plant offer (Ash)
- Victoria carrying too much of the burden (Brown)
- Sewage committee has lost its way (Low)
- Sewage treatment is long overdue (Tesluk)
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- Victoria carrying too much of the burden (Brown)
- Sewage committee has lost its way (Low)
- Sewage treatment is long overdue (Tesluk)
------------------
CRD SEWAGE NEWS
Audio-Visual News:
Mayor Desjardins on CFAX 16 June
The Mayor of Esquimalt was on CFAX 1070 at 8:20am with Al Ferraby to share the feedback she heard during Bucaneer Days on Geoff Young's comments to bribe Esquimalt to take the plant at McLoughlin Pt.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?
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Chris Corps on CFAX 17 JuneChris Corps of Pivotal IRM was on CFAX 1070 at 2pm.
http://theriteplan.ca/media/
Chris explains why the CRD's two studies, The Path Forward and their later distributor study form 2009 completely missed the mark by taking the wrong approach.
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No cost sewage plant for EsquimaltCHEK covers the Esquimalt sewage bribe at today's CRD committee meeting:
http://youtu.be/61z77RI8mik
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CTV's Robert BuffamCTV's Robert Buffam reports on the "fearmongering vs. factmongering" debate from Oak Bay Mayor Nils Jensen that occurred at today's CRD sewage meeting:
http://youtu.be/yBMbSSRTZ7A
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Isitt 'pigs' comment at CRD meetingBen Isitt thinks people want to swim at our waterfront but can't because it's disgusting and we live like pigs:
http://youtu.be/5JlSLDiv_bQ
I can't speak for the windsurfers or divers but strangely enough I can speak for Ben Isitt who does go swimming there.
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RITE Plan's Youtube Channel
Frequently updated with the most vital and interesting snippets that show the best and the worst of the CRD's sewage planning process
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News stories:
‘Free’ plant an insult, Esquimalt mayor says
BILL CLEVERLEY
Times Colonist
19 June 2014 page A1
Esquimalt taxpayers could have a sewage treatment system built at no cost if Esquimalt council reverses an earlier decision and allows the Capital Regional District to build a treatment plant at McLoughlin Point.
But Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins called the offer an insult to residents.
Members of the CRD’s liquid waste management committee are recommending the regional district offer Esquimalt $19 million to cover its share of capital costs for allowing the plant at McLoughlin Point.
Desjardins said rejection of McLoughlin Point was never about money. She said hundreds of residents spoke at four nights of public hearings in opposition to McLoughlin over issues ranging from the site being too small and at risk of a tsunami to inadequacy of secondary treatment.
“So to bring this back at this point is to say to the public: ‘Are those concerns that you brought forward not real? You’ll take the money and run?’ I think it’s insulting. I think it really is disrespectful of the public,” Desjardins said. She said putting a plant at McLoughlin is like “putting a size 15 foot in a size 8 shoe.”
With a number of deadlines looming and about $500 million in senior government funding for the project potentially at risk, the CRD is scrambling to find a way around its impasse with Esquimalt over McLoughlin Point.
B.C. Environment Minister Mary Polak last month said she would not overturn Esquimalt’s refusal to rezone the former oil tank farm site for a sewage treatment plant.
Victoria Coun. Geoff Young, chairman of the CRD’s core area liquid waste management committee, said many Esquimalt residents might find the offer attractive, especially since the federal and provincial governments are insisting that sewage treatment be built.
“We’re offering essentially a free plant at McLoughlin plus [Esquimalt’s share of a biosolids plant] at Hartland [landfill] because that’s part of the system, versus another plant, albeit a smaller one, in Esquimalt somewhere that they are going to have to pay for,” Young said. “I think it’s an attractive offer and I really think the people of Esquimalt should decide whether it’s a good offer and let their council members know.”
The offer came in a lastminute motion from CRD chairman Alastair Bryson, who said it not only represents excellent value for Esquimalt taxpayers but is based on the fact that Esquimalt council now has information that wasn’t available when it held public hearings into rezoning McLoughlin, including artist renderings of the plant and assurances that an advanced oxidation process is to be included to help mitigate substances of emerging concern.
Committee members are also recommending the CRD concurrently: • See if any municipalities or First Nations in the CRD will provide a site for a centralized plant. • Examine the cost of a decentralized system with several smaller treatment plants. • Ask the province to consider making the project a provincial one so that it is responsible for implementing sewage treatment.
CRD directors asked Esquimalt to respond to the offer by July 16 because there’s a bid to build the treatment plant that expires July 26. Desjardins said the July 16 deadline is not possible because time is needed for a full public process and her council is about to go into summer recess.
“I would expect you will have your answer sometime in the fall,” she said.
BILL CLEVERLEY
Times Colonist
19 June 2014 page A1
Esquimalt taxpayers could have a sewage treatment system built at no cost if Esquimalt council reverses an earlier decision and allows the Capital Regional District to build a treatment plant at McLoughlin Point.
But Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins called the offer an insult to residents.
Members of the CRD’s liquid waste management committee are recommending the regional district offer Esquimalt $19 million to cover its share of capital costs for allowing the plant at McLoughlin Point.
Desjardins said rejection of McLoughlin Point was never about money. She said hundreds of residents spoke at four nights of public hearings in opposition to McLoughlin over issues ranging from the site being too small and at risk of a tsunami to inadequacy of secondary treatment.
“So to bring this back at this point is to say to the public: ‘Are those concerns that you brought forward not real? You’ll take the money and run?’ I think it’s insulting. I think it really is disrespectful of the public,” Desjardins said. She said putting a plant at McLoughlin is like “putting a size 15 foot in a size 8 shoe.”
With a number of deadlines looming and about $500 million in senior government funding for the project potentially at risk, the CRD is scrambling to find a way around its impasse with Esquimalt over McLoughlin Point.
B.C. Environment Minister Mary Polak last month said she would not overturn Esquimalt’s refusal to rezone the former oil tank farm site for a sewage treatment plant.
Victoria Coun. Geoff Young, chairman of the CRD’s core area liquid waste management committee, said many Esquimalt residents might find the offer attractive, especially since the federal and provincial governments are insisting that sewage treatment be built.
“We’re offering essentially a free plant at McLoughlin plus [Esquimalt’s share of a biosolids plant] at Hartland [landfill] because that’s part of the system, versus another plant, albeit a smaller one, in Esquimalt somewhere that they are going to have to pay for,” Young said. “I think it’s an attractive offer and I really think the people of Esquimalt should decide whether it’s a good offer and let their council members know.”
The offer came in a lastminute motion from CRD chairman Alastair Bryson, who said it not only represents excellent value for Esquimalt taxpayers but is based on the fact that Esquimalt council now has information that wasn’t available when it held public hearings into rezoning McLoughlin, including artist renderings of the plant and assurances that an advanced oxidation process is to be included to help mitigate substances of emerging concern.
Committee members are also recommending the CRD concurrently: • See if any municipalities or First Nations in the CRD will provide a site for a centralized plant. • Examine the cost of a decentralized system with several smaller treatment plants. • Ask the province to consider making the project a provincial one so that it is responsible for implementing sewage treatment.
CRD directors asked Esquimalt to respond to the offer by July 16 because there’s a bid to build the treatment plant that expires July 26. Desjardins said the July 16 deadline is not possible because time is needed for a full public process and her council is about to go into summer recess.
“I would expect you will have your answer sometime in the fall,” she said.
----------------
Frank Stanford comment June 19 2014
CFAX
It would trite, and perhaps unfair, to point out that all the things the CRD is going to do to try to solve its sewage treatment dilemma should have been done months or years ago.
Now, with their collective backs to the wall...out of time and apparently at risk of losing two thirds of the money,
directors have voted to ask if any other of the municipalities or first nations in the region might want the deal that Esquimalt was too proud to take. Literally millions of dollars in exchange for providing the site for a treatment plant.
At the same Esquimalt will be asked to re-consider...with a better amenity package; some call it a bigger bribe.
Problem is the suggested deadline for a response from Esquimalt is ridiculous...July 16th. Yeah. mid July...this year.
In parallel with that the region has bowed to pressure to look into the feasibility of the so-called "distributed system"...,many smaller plants rather than one large central plant. But these characters will spend the next month arguing about what constitutes "independent" advice. Then they have to have a public process to approve the consultants' terms of reference, so that we don't end up right back at the same place again. All this is going to eat up gobs of time they don't have.
Or, the province might just say to the CRD: step aside, and we'll build this project for you.
Sometimes the provincial government threatens to replace local boards. Sometimes it actually happens over screams of protest locally. The fact the local board is putting it on the table says something about how difficult this file actually is.
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CRD board offers Esquimalt more incentives for wastewater site as deadline looms
Daniel Palmer
Victoria News
Jun 19, 2014
The resounding rejection of a wastewater treatment plant in Esquimalt is being tested once more by the Capital Regional District board.
On Wednesday, the CRD board agreed to cover Esquimalt's capital costs should Esquimalt approve the construction of the plant at McLoughlin Point, part of the core area's secondary sewage treatment project.
Esquimalt council rejected the plant in early April after holding four days of public hearings, where the vast majority of speakers spoke against the $788-million Seaterra program.
"I'm going to wait unit the CRD has sent a letter outlining the offer, because there's just far too much rhetoric going on right now," said Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins. "But everything I'm hearing from our community is it's not about the money."
The CRD is scrambling to comply with federal and provincial regulations that require secondary sewage treatment by 2020. Should it fail to meet those deadlines, about $500 million in funding contributions from higher levels of government is at risk. CRD directors are also spurred on by the threat of personal liability for failure to comply with the regulations, and B.C. Environment Minister Mary Polak has indicated she won't exercise the province's ability to force through the McLoughlin site.
Desjardins said some residents are feeling "betrayed and upset" that the CRD can't accept the township's opposition to the McLoughlin site, and she'll continue to hold discussions with regional mayors and First Nations leaders about the possibility of a distributed treatment model. Colwood has already formally backed out of the Seaterra program and is pursuing its own sewage treatment site.
"We think we can gather some information fairly quickly to help us with the distributed model discussion," Desjardins said. "There's a lot of balls in the air right now and we need to act on them fairly quickly."
CRD directors will ask Desjardins to respond to their new offer by July 16, a deadline Desjardins said isn't feasible.
"I've already given the CRD an indication that's probably not a valid timeframe," she said. "I can't even see it coming to council this week because we have a full agenda and we need time for a full public process."
The CRD board recommended three other concurrent options to comply with sewage treatment deadlines:
Ask regional municipalities and First Nations if they're willing to offer a site for a wastewater treatment plant.
Gather information on the feasibility and cost of a distributed treatment model
Ask the province to take responsibility for sewage treatment in the Capital Region.
dpalmer@vicnews.com
http://www.vicnews.com/news/
CRD board offers Esquimalt more incentives for wastewater site as deadline looms
Daniel Palmer
Victoria News
Jun 19, 2014
The resounding rejection of a wastewater treatment plant in Esquimalt is being tested once more by the Capital Regional District board.
On Wednesday, the CRD board agreed to cover Esquimalt's capital costs should Esquimalt approve the construction of the plant at McLoughlin Point, part of the core area's secondary sewage treatment project.
Esquimalt council rejected the plant in early April after holding four days of public hearings, where the vast majority of speakers spoke against the $788-million Seaterra program.
"I'm going to wait unit the CRD has sent a letter outlining the offer, because there's just far too much rhetoric going on right now," said Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins. "But everything I'm hearing from our community is it's not about the money."
The CRD is scrambling to comply with federal and provincial regulations that require secondary sewage treatment by 2020. Should it fail to meet those deadlines, about $500 million in funding contributions from higher levels of government is at risk. CRD directors are also spurred on by the threat of personal liability for failure to comply with the regulations, and B.C. Environment Minister Mary Polak has indicated she won't exercise the province's ability to force through the McLoughlin site.
Desjardins said some residents are feeling "betrayed and upset" that the CRD can't accept the township's opposition to the McLoughlin site, and she'll continue to hold discussions with regional mayors and First Nations leaders about the possibility of a distributed treatment model. Colwood has already formally backed out of the Seaterra program and is pursuing its own sewage treatment site.
"We think we can gather some information fairly quickly to help us with the distributed model discussion," Desjardins said. "There's a lot of balls in the air right now and we need to act on them fairly quickly."
CRD directors will ask Desjardins to respond to their new offer by July 16, a deadline Desjardins said isn't feasible.
"I've already given the CRD an indication that's probably not a valid timeframe," she said. "I can't even see it coming to council this week because we have a full agenda and we need time for a full public process."
The CRD board recommended three other concurrent options to comply with sewage treatment deadlines:
Ask regional municipalities and First Nations if they're willing to offer a site for a wastewater treatment plant.
Gather information on the feasibility and cost of a distributed treatment model
Ask the province to take responsibility for sewage treatment in the Capital Region.
dpalmer@vicnews.com
http://www.vicnews.com/news/
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Poll - what does it really mean?
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As usual, media say ARESST is anti-treatment but ARESST when in fact ARESST has been consistent in saying that we are against a sewage (and sludge) plant, and maintain that our marine based sewage treatment is satisfactory.
Time to challenge federal government on sewage: group
‘High risk’ rank not supported by science, ARESST says, arguing against treatment
Bill Cleverley
21 Jun 2014
Times Colonist
Rather than trying to push ahead with expensive sewage treatment, the Capital Regional District should challenge the federal government’s “high risk” classification of Greater Victoria’s sewage system, says a local lobby group.
The federal government has classified the CRD’s practice of pumping raw, screened sewage through long, deep-water outfalls as high risk even though CRD’s monitoring data proves otherwise, said Brian Burchill, chairman of the Association for Responsible and Environmentally Sustainable Sewage Treatment or ARESST.
“What we want to do is do what the CRD should have done years ago and that is to present the science and the evidence to Ottawa to defend the current system,” Burchill said at a news conference near the Clover Point sewage outfall.
“This project to spend $1 billion of our tax dollars to replace the current system is quite an unnecessary project and we think that Ottawa ought to review the issue with the evidence that’s in the CRD database on the CRD website,” he said.
ARESST has long argued that deep-water outfalls into the frigid, fast-moving waters acts as a type of natural sewage treatment.
The groups notes that: • Substance concentrations near the outfalls are better than waterquality guidelines. • Coliforms from the outfalls rapidly die in the cold sea water. • Metal concentrations in the discharges are below Canadian and EPA standards for drinking water. • Risk to human health is low.
The group has written an open letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper asking that the CRD’s sewage system receive a classification “consistent with the evidence provided by the CRD, the Institute of Ocean Sciences and regional medical health officers.”
Victoria Coun. Geoff Young, chairman of the CRD’s core area liquid waste management committee, agreed that the CRD board has never challenged the federal government’s assessment in court or even launched a public relations campaign in opposition.
But he said many of the arguments that were made over past decades no longer apply.
“There are substances that we’re putting into the water now that didn’t even exist then. We have become aware of the subtle, long-term effects on wildlife, for example, and the environment of endocrine disrupters and flame retardants and microplastics.”
The inclusion of advanced oxidization will address many of those substances of emerging concern, Young said.
He also said it would be disingenuous to fight the federal regulations while at the same time seeking and accepting federal grants for treatment.
“We didn’t think we could ride both horses: One, fight them tooth and nail in court or through the public relations battle try to convince them they shouldn’t apply the regulations to us, and Two, take the money.”
http://library.pressdisplay.
‘High risk’ rank not supported by science, ARESST says, arguing against treatment
Bill Cleverley
21 Jun 2014
Times Colonist
Rather than trying to push ahead with expensive sewage treatment, the Capital Regional District should challenge the federal government’s “high risk” classification of Greater Victoria’s sewage system, says a local lobby group.
The federal government has classified the CRD’s practice of pumping raw, screened sewage through long, deep-water outfalls as high risk even though CRD’s monitoring data proves otherwise, said Brian Burchill, chairman of the Association for Responsible and Environmentally Sustainable Sewage Treatment or ARESST.
“What we want to do is do what the CRD should have done years ago and that is to present the science and the evidence to Ottawa to defend the current system,” Burchill said at a news conference near the Clover Point sewage outfall.
“This project to spend $1 billion of our tax dollars to replace the current system is quite an unnecessary project and we think that Ottawa ought to review the issue with the evidence that’s in the CRD database on the CRD website,” he said.
ARESST has long argued that deep-water outfalls into the frigid, fast-moving waters acts as a type of natural sewage treatment.
The groups notes that: • Substance concentrations near the outfalls are better than waterquality guidelines. • Coliforms from the outfalls rapidly die in the cold sea water. • Metal concentrations in the discharges are below Canadian and EPA standards for drinking water. • Risk to human health is low.
The group has written an open letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper asking that the CRD’s sewage system receive a classification “consistent with the evidence provided by the CRD, the Institute of Ocean Sciences and regional medical health officers.”
Victoria Coun. Geoff Young, chairman of the CRD’s core area liquid waste management committee, agreed that the CRD board has never challenged the federal government’s assessment in court or even launched a public relations campaign in opposition.
But he said many of the arguments that were made over past decades no longer apply.
“There are substances that we’re putting into the water now that didn’t even exist then. We have become aware of the subtle, long-term effects on wildlife, for example, and the environment of endocrine disrupters and flame retardants and microplastics.”
The inclusion of advanced oxidization will address many of those substances of emerging concern, Young said.
He also said it would be disingenuous to fight the federal regulations while at the same time seeking and accepting federal grants for treatment.
“We didn’t think we could ride both horses: One, fight them tooth and nail in court or through the public relations battle try to convince them they shouldn’t apply the regulations to us, and Two, take the money.”
http://library.pressdisplay.
--------------
'Astounding' hit lurks in sewage mess
Treatment-plant impasse triggers alarm about potential impact on your wallet
Bill Cleverly
Times Colonist
June 21, 2014 page A1
The impasse over locating a sewage-treatment plant at Esquimalt's
McLoughlin Point could translate into "astounding" property tax
increases for homeowners both inside and outside the township's
boundaries, say some local politicians.
So desperate is the Capital Regional District to both get on with its
plans and preserve senior government funding that it has offered
Esquimalt $19 million to locate a plant at McLoughlin -- enough money
to pay Esquimalt's share of building a treatment plant and biosolids
facility.
If the offer is accepted, it would reduce the total cost to individual
Esquimalt property owners for sewage treatment to about $125 a year
(the amount needed to cover the municipality's share of operating
costs for the entire system) from the estimated $311 a year each
homeowner was forecast to pay.
But those figures are based on the regional project getting $501
million in federal and provincial grants.
If the proposed treatment plant has to be built without senior
government money, the typical Esquimalt householder's share would
increase to $685 a year for sewage treatment, say CRD staff estimates.
It's exactly that type of increase that's worrying many CRD directors,
who say Esquimalt's refusal to rezone McLoughlin and its unhurried
approach to revisiting the issue could translate into massive tax
increases for property owners -- inside and outside Esquimalt.
Oak Bay Mayor Nils Jensen said the urgency of the situation can't be overstated.
"Just doing a straight-line calculation for Oak Bay, an average
household in Oak Bay under the current plan would be about $450 per
household.
"That's not just during the time of construction, that's from here on
in," Jensen said.
"That's with a $500-million grant. If we were to lose that grant, the
cost per household, again on a simple straight-line calculation, would
go to $1,350. If we were to go on a distributed model [multiple
plants] with no grant, we're looking at $2,700," he said.
"That is an astounding hit for any taxpayer," Jensen said, adding that
while the dollar numbers vary from municipality to municipality, the
magnitude of the increase will be the same.
"We're all worried," said Saanich Mayor Frank Leonard about potential
tax increases. Esquimalt's decision to deny the CRD's application to
rezone McLoughlin for a treatment plant came after an extensive public
hearing that spanned four sessions and saw hundreds of residents speak
against the proposal.
The CRD appealed to the province to intervene and overturn the
decision, but Environment Minister Mary Polak refused and has
maintained that the region must build sewage treatment while
acknowledging that delays could jeopardize the $501 million in senior
government funding.
As the CRD's bid from a preferred proponent to build a plant at
McLoughlin expires on July 26, the CRD has asked that Esquimalt
respond to its latest offer by July 16.
While Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins said she will take the CRD's
offer back to council and residents, there is no way a July 16
deadline can be met given the council's scheduled summer recess and
the need for consultation.
Besides, she said, the refusal was not about the money. Offering a
"bribe" at the eleventh hour is insulting to residents who oppose a
treatment plant at McLoughlin for a variety of reasons, including
tsunami risk, the proposed treatment model and global warming, she
said.
"We have turned down the zoning based on the height and setbacks and
what we heard from the public," Desjardins said. "It was never about
the money before, so now there's money on the table and you're asking
me to go back, but it wasn't about the money."
Since the province's decision not to intervene, Esquimalt has floated
the possibility of having a tertiary treatment plant built for
Esquimalt and View Royal as part of its village core revitalization
project.
Leonard hopes Esquimalt residents let Desjardins know how they feel.
"I hope she gets some phone calls and emails from Esquimalt taxpayers
who find saving at least $400 a year attractive. I guess if she can't
consider it until the fall, that reinforces the position some of us
have taken with the provincial government that we really never had a
fair shot in Esquimalt," Leonard said.
Victoria Coun. Geoff Young, who chairs of the CRD's liquid waste
committee and attended all of Esquimalt's public hearings, said
Esquimalt residents might just find the prospect of having a free
sewage-treatment plant at McLoughlin preferable to paying to build a
tertiary treatment plant in the town centre.
Young said the situation has changed since the public hearing and
there is now a lot of information that wasn't available when the CRD
sought the rezoning.
A lot of the concerns raised at the hearing have now been addressed,
including issues over cost overruns, design and treatment of
substances of emerging concern, Young said.
"We now know that on the main plant -- McLoughlin -- we were basically
on budget. Now we don't have bids for Hartland for the biosolids
[processing], but we have bidders," Young said.
"People thought it was going to be ugly. It is, in fact, quite
attractive. People thought it would not address substances of emerging
concern, but advanced oxidation does it very well, better than MBR
[membrane bioreactor] technology that you find in tertiary plants in
many instances. So I feel there really is a legitimate reason to ask
Esquimalt council to think about it again," Young said.
Asked whether she preferred Esquimalt building and paying for its own
treatment plant rather than having a regional plant built at no cost
to taxpayers, Desjardins said the question was not that simple.
"It will come down to do you want dollars in your pocket or do you
believe the environmental issues that were put forward before are
substantial enough not to have that plant at McLoughlin," she said.
The CRD has to have a plant running by 2018 to meet federal and
provincial government funding deadlines.
Leonard said he has seen nothing to indicate that the federal or
provincial deadlines are flexible.
"I don't know what would motivate the federal or provincial government
to want them to be flexible," Leonard said.
Not about the money: Desjardins
Treatment-plant impasse triggers alarm about potential impact on your wallet
Bill Cleverly
Times Colonist
June 21, 2014 page A1
The impasse over locating a sewage-treatment plant at Esquimalt's
McLoughlin Point could translate into "astounding" property tax
increases for homeowners both inside and outside the township's
boundaries, say some local politicians.
So desperate is the Capital Regional District to both get on with its
plans and preserve senior government funding that it has offered
Esquimalt $19 million to locate a plant at McLoughlin -- enough money
to pay Esquimalt's share of building a treatment plant and biosolids
facility.
If the offer is accepted, it would reduce the total cost to individual
Esquimalt property owners for sewage treatment to about $125 a year
(the amount needed to cover the municipality's share of operating
costs for the entire system) from the estimated $311 a year each
homeowner was forecast to pay.
But those figures are based on the regional project getting $501
million in federal and provincial grants.
If the proposed treatment plant has to be built without senior
government money, the typical Esquimalt householder's share would
increase to $685 a year for sewage treatment, say CRD staff estimates.
It's exactly that type of increase that's worrying many CRD directors,
who say Esquimalt's refusal to rezone McLoughlin and its unhurried
approach to revisiting the issue could translate into massive tax
increases for property owners -- inside and outside Esquimalt.
Oak Bay Mayor Nils Jensen said the urgency of the situation can't be overstated.
"Just doing a straight-line calculation for Oak Bay, an average
household in Oak Bay under the current plan would be about $450 per
household.
"That's not just during the time of construction, that's from here on
in," Jensen said.
"That's with a $500-million grant. If we were to lose that grant, the
cost per household, again on a simple straight-line calculation, would
go to $1,350. If we were to go on a distributed model [multiple
plants] with no grant, we're looking at $2,700," he said.
"That is an astounding hit for any taxpayer," Jensen said, adding that
while the dollar numbers vary from municipality to municipality, the
magnitude of the increase will be the same.
"We're all worried," said Saanich Mayor Frank Leonard about potential
tax increases. Esquimalt's decision to deny the CRD's application to
rezone McLoughlin for a treatment plant came after an extensive public
hearing that spanned four sessions and saw hundreds of residents speak
against the proposal.
The CRD appealed to the province to intervene and overturn the
decision, but Environment Minister Mary Polak refused and has
maintained that the region must build sewage treatment while
acknowledging that delays could jeopardize the $501 million in senior
government funding.
As the CRD's bid from a preferred proponent to build a plant at
McLoughlin expires on July 26, the CRD has asked that Esquimalt
respond to its latest offer by July 16.
While Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins said she will take the CRD's
offer back to council and residents, there is no way a July 16
deadline can be met given the council's scheduled summer recess and
the need for consultation.
Besides, she said, the refusal was not about the money. Offering a
"bribe" at the eleventh hour is insulting to residents who oppose a
treatment plant at McLoughlin for a variety of reasons, including
tsunami risk, the proposed treatment model and global warming, she
said.
"We have turned down the zoning based on the height and setbacks and
what we heard from the public," Desjardins said. "It was never about
the money before, so now there's money on the table and you're asking
me to go back, but it wasn't about the money."
Since the province's decision not to intervene, Esquimalt has floated
the possibility of having a tertiary treatment plant built for
Esquimalt and View Royal as part of its village core revitalization
project.
Leonard hopes Esquimalt residents let Desjardins know how they feel.
"I hope she gets some phone calls and emails from Esquimalt taxpayers
who find saving at least $400 a year attractive. I guess if she can't
consider it until the fall, that reinforces the position some of us
have taken with the provincial government that we really never had a
fair shot in Esquimalt," Leonard said.
Victoria Coun. Geoff Young, who chairs of the CRD's liquid waste
committee and attended all of Esquimalt's public hearings, said
Esquimalt residents might just find the prospect of having a free
sewage-treatment plant at McLoughlin preferable to paying to build a
tertiary treatment plant in the town centre.
Young said the situation has changed since the public hearing and
there is now a lot of information that wasn't available when the CRD
sought the rezoning.
A lot of the concerns raised at the hearing have now been addressed,
including issues over cost overruns, design and treatment of
substances of emerging concern, Young said.
"We now know that on the main plant -- McLoughlin -- we were basically
on budget. Now we don't have bids for Hartland for the biosolids
[processing], but we have bidders," Young said.
"People thought it was going to be ugly. It is, in fact, quite
attractive. People thought it would not address substances of emerging
concern, but advanced oxidation does it very well, better than MBR
[membrane bioreactor] technology that you find in tertiary plants in
many instances. So I feel there really is a legitimate reason to ask
Esquimalt council to think about it again," Young said.
Asked whether she preferred Esquimalt building and paying for its own
treatment plant rather than having a regional plant built at no cost
to taxpayers, Desjardins said the question was not that simple.
"It will come down to do you want dollars in your pocket or do you
believe the environmental issues that were put forward before are
substantial enough not to have that plant at McLoughlin," she said.
The CRD has to have a plant running by 2018 to meet federal and
provincial government funding deadlines.
Leonard said he has seen nothing to indicate that the federal or
provincial deadlines are flexible.
"I don't know what would motivate the federal or provincial government
to want them to be flexible," Leonard said.
Not about the money: Desjardins
(Continued from page A1)
Esquimalt's decision to deny the CRD's application to rezone
McLoughlin for a treatment plant came after an extensive public
hearing that spanned four sessions and saw hundreds of residents speak
against the proposal.
The CRD appealed to the province to intervene and overturn the
decision, but Environment Minister Mary Polak refused and has
maintained that the region must build sewage treatment while
acknowledging that delays could jeopardize the $501 million in senior
government funding.
As the CRD's bid from a preferred proponent to build a plant at
McLoughlin expires on July 26, the CRD has asked that Esquimalt
respond to its latest offer by July 16.
While Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins said she will take the CRD's
offer back to council and residents, there is no way a July 16
deadline can be met given the council's scheduled summer recess and
the need for consultation.
Besides, she said, the refusal was not about the money. Offering a
"bribe" at the eleventh hour is insulting to residents who oppose a
treatment plant at McLoughlin for a variety of reasons, including
tsunami risk, the proposed treatment model and global warming, she
said.
"We have turned down the zoning based on the height and setbacks and
what we heard from the public," Desjardins said. "It was never about
the money before, so now there's money on the table and you're asking
me to go back, but it wasn't about the money."
Since the province's decision not to intervene, Esquimalt has floated
the possibility of having a tertiary treatment plant built for
Esquimalt and View Royal as part of its village core revitalization
project.
Leonard hopes Esquimalt residents let Desjardins know how they feel.
"I hope she gets some phone calls and emails from Esquimalt taxpayers
who find saving at least $400 a year attractive. I guess if she can't
consider it until the fall, that reinforces the position some of us
have taken with the provincial government that we really never had a
fair shot in Esquimalt," Leonard said.
Victoria Coun. Geoff Young, who chairs of the CRD's liquid waste
committee and attended all of Esquimalt's public hearings, said
Esquimalt residents might just find the prospect of having a free
sewage-treatment plant at McLoughlin preferable to paying to build a
tertiary treatment plant in the town centre.
Young said the situation has changed since the public hearing and
there is now a lot of information that wasn't available when the CRD
sought the rezoning.
A lot of the concerns raised at the hearing have now been addressed,
including issues over cost overruns, design and treatment of
substances of emerging concern, Young said.
"We now know that on the main plant -- McLoughlin -- we were basically
on budget. Now we don't have bids for Hartland for the biosolids
[processing], but we have bidders," Young said.
"People thought it was going to be ugly. It is, in fact, quite
attractive. People thought it would not address substances of emerging
concern, but advanced oxidation does it very well, better than MBR
[membrane bioreactor] technology that you find in tertiary plants in
many instances. So I feel there really is a legitimate reason to ask
Esquimalt council to think about it again," Young said.
Asked whether she preferred Esquimalt building and paying for its own
treatment plant rather than having a regional plant built at no cost
to taxpayers, Desjardins said the question was not that simple.
"It will come down to do you want dollars in your pocket or do you
believe the environmental issues that were put forward before are
substantial enough not to have that plant at McLoughlin," she said.
The CRD has to have a plant running by 2018 to meet federal and
provincial government funding deadlines.
Leonard said he has seen nothing to indicate that the federal or
provincial deadlines are flexible.
"I don't know what would motivate the federal or provincial government
to want them to be flexible," Leonard said.
If municipalities decide to build their own treatment plants, the
funding agreements would be invalidated, according to CRD staff.
GVPL PressReader
Esquimalt's decision to deny the CRD's application to rezone
McLoughlin for a treatment plant came after an extensive public
hearing that spanned four sessions and saw hundreds of residents speak
against the proposal.
The CRD appealed to the province to intervene and overturn the
decision, but Environment Minister Mary Polak refused and has
maintained that the region must build sewage treatment while
acknowledging that delays could jeopardize the $501 million in senior
government funding.
As the CRD's bid from a preferred proponent to build a plant at
McLoughlin expires on July 26, the CRD has asked that Esquimalt
respond to its latest offer by July 16.
While Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins said she will take the CRD's
offer back to council and residents, there is no way a July 16
deadline can be met given the council's scheduled summer recess and
the need for consultation.
Besides, she said, the refusal was not about the money. Offering a
"bribe" at the eleventh hour is insulting to residents who oppose a
treatment plant at McLoughlin for a variety of reasons, including
tsunami risk, the proposed treatment model and global warming, she
said.
"We have turned down the zoning based on the height and setbacks and
what we heard from the public," Desjardins said. "It was never about
the money before, so now there's money on the table and you're asking
me to go back, but it wasn't about the money."
Since the province's decision not to intervene, Esquimalt has floated
the possibility of having a tertiary treatment plant built for
Esquimalt and View Royal as part of its village core revitalization
project.
Leonard hopes Esquimalt residents let Desjardins know how they feel.
"I hope she gets some phone calls and emails from Esquimalt taxpayers
who find saving at least $400 a year attractive. I guess if she can't
consider it until the fall, that reinforces the position some of us
have taken with the provincial government that we really never had a
fair shot in Esquimalt," Leonard said.
Victoria Coun. Geoff Young, who chairs of the CRD's liquid waste
committee and attended all of Esquimalt's public hearings, said
Esquimalt residents might just find the prospect of having a free
sewage-treatment plant at McLoughlin preferable to paying to build a
tertiary treatment plant in the town centre.
Young said the situation has changed since the public hearing and
there is now a lot of information that wasn't available when the CRD
sought the rezoning.
A lot of the concerns raised at the hearing have now been addressed,
including issues over cost overruns, design and treatment of
substances of emerging concern, Young said.
"We now know that on the main plant -- McLoughlin -- we were basically
on budget. Now we don't have bids for Hartland for the biosolids
[processing], but we have bidders," Young said.
"People thought it was going to be ugly. It is, in fact, quite
attractive. People thought it would not address substances of emerging
concern, but advanced oxidation does it very well, better than MBR
[membrane bioreactor] technology that you find in tertiary plants in
many instances. So I feel there really is a legitimate reason to ask
Esquimalt council to think about it again," Young said.
Asked whether she preferred Esquimalt building and paying for its own
treatment plant rather than having a regional plant built at no cost
to taxpayers, Desjardins said the question was not that simple.
"It will come down to do you want dollars in your pocket or do you
believe the environmental issues that were put forward before are
substantial enough not to have that plant at McLoughlin," she said.
The CRD has to have a plant running by 2018 to meet federal and
provincial government funding deadlines.
Leonard said he has seen nothing to indicate that the federal or
provincial deadlines are flexible.
"I don't know what would motivate the federal or provincial government
to want them to be flexible," Leonard said.
If municipalities decide to build their own treatment plants, the
funding agreements would be invalidated, according to CRD staff.
GVPL PressReader
---------------
LETTERS
Troubling aspects to sewage-plant offer (Ash)
TIMES COLONIST
JUNE 20, 2014
Re: “ ‘Free’ plant an insult, Esquimalt mayor says,” June 19.
The Capital Regional District has apparently extended an offer to cover the capital costs of sewage treatment if Esquimalt rezones McLoughlin Point. This seems to be a trick to motivate otherwise uninterested residents to put pressure on Esquimalt’s council.
However, there are troubling aspects to this offer. First, it comes at the expense of the other municipalities who must shoulder even more of the cost burden.
Second, many of these residents are equally affected by the facility: residents of James Bay and Vic West in particular are no further from the proposed site than residents of Esquimalt, yet would arbitrarily be paying even more to subsidize this politically expedient offer to their neighbours. It would not be unreasonable of Vic West and James Bay to demand equal compensation, but this would even further increase the financial burden on residents of the rest of the region.
The CRD is overstepping its authority in extending this offer.
Walter Ash
Victoria
http://www.timescolonist.com/
--------------
http://www.timescolonist.com/opinion/letters/victoria-carrying-too-much-of-the-burden-1.1138564
--------------
Re: “ ‘Free’ plant an insult, Esquimalt mayor says,” June 19.
TIMES COLONIST
JUNE 20, 2014 02:58 PM
TIMES COLONIST
JUNE 20, 2014 02:58 PM
First, I would like to correct a repeated inaccuracy in coverage of Esquimalt’s rezoning of McLoughlin Point. In July 2013, Esquimalt zoned McLoughlin for sewage treatment but included setback and community impact conditions to make it acceptable. The Capital Regional District wanted to put a bigger plant there than was allowed, and the people of Esquimalt and the region resoundingly said no.
Second, I wish to address the bribe offered by the CRD to Esquimalt. It’s absolutely repulsive that CRD chairman Alistair Bryson would offer this. When the Stanhope Farm composting facility caused complaints from his municipality of Central Saanich, the CRD shut it down, throwing organic-waste disposal into chaos in our region. Yet he wants to offer a one-time financial benefit to Esquimalt to override their concerns about something that’s not even built and not even required for another five or six years.
The Core Area Liquid Waste Management Committee has lost its way. It’s time to disband the committee, disband the Seaterra Commission, and let local leaders like Colwood’s Mayor Carol Hamilton and Esquimalt’s Mayor Barb Desjardins show us the way to work together for win-win solutions.
Susan Low
Esquimalt
http://www.timescolonist.com/
Sewage treatment is long overdue (Tesluk)
http://www.timescolonist.com/
----------------
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