CRD SEWAGE NEWS THIS WEEK
- Sewage woes cause stink as Victoria sends site proposal down drain- Westside Solutions' September Update
- CRD's sewage Fairness & Transparency Advisor website now up
LETTERS
- CRD decision is a major step forward (Henderson)
- Prepare for expensive funeral arrangements (Langley)
- Linking Victoria's homeless housing initiative to CRD sewage plant costs
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Sewage woes cause stink as Victoria sends site proposal down drainCanadian Press/CTV
September 13, 2015 5:56PM PDT
VICTORIA - The Victoria region is on the hook for $750,000 now that plans have officially fallen through on the proposed site for a controversial sewage treatment plant.
It's the latest in a long-standing saga of the provincial and federal governments demanding the area's regional district improve its sewage treatment practices, which fall short of meeting regulations.
The region pumps about 130-million litres of raw effluent daily into the Juan de Fuca Strait, which has prompted harsh criticism from environmentalists, as well as the province's American neighbour.
Last year, Washington state called for a Victoria tourism boycott to force the issue; though scientists maintain the ocean acts as a natural toilet that flushes and disperses waste with minimal environmental impact.
The area's regional district will hand over quarter-million-dollar cheques to a trio of firms that submitted bids for the facility, which would have been located in Esquimalt, B.C.
The region has until 2020 to complete the estimated $750-million project if it hopes to receive funding help from the province and the federal government.
http://bc.ctvnews.ca/sewage-
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Westside Solutions' September Update
- Carollo Associates to assist with further evaluation of technical and public engagement information and feedback, evaluating both flows currently discharged from Macaulay Point and flows only from Westside communities;
- Westside endorsed recommendation to further engage the public in a representative poll using recognized industry polling standards.
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CRD's sewage Fairness & Transparency Advisor website now up:
http://www.crd.bc.ca/project/
CRD decision is a major step forward (Henderson)
TIMES COLONIST
SEPTEMBER 19, 2015
Re: “McLoughlin plant ruled out,” Sept. 13.
I was delighted to see the front-page headline announcing that the Capital Regional District has finally abandoned McLoughlin Point from consideration for a regional sewage plant.
The CRD is to be congratulated on putting a stake through the heart of the McLoughlin proposal. This step was necessary to show that the CRD has truly brought closure to an expensive and misguided scheme and to remove the cloud of mistrust over the new planning process.
Paying to discard McLoughlin was well worth it. The benefit is to demonstrate, in a single step, that the CRD is now ready to pay attention to the evidence, consider the taxpayers’ interest, look for innovation, be transparent and respect member municipalities. I look forward to our regional sewage plan continuing to show these basic virtues.
Irwin Henderson
Victoria
http://www.timescolonist.com/
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LETTERS
TIMES COLONIST
SEPTEMBER 19, 2015
Re: “McLoughlin plant ruled out,” Sept. 13.
I was delighted to see the front-page headline announcing that the Capital Regional District has finally abandoned McLoughlin Point from consideration for a regional sewage plant.
The CRD is to be congratulated on putting a stake through the heart of the McLoughlin proposal. This step was necessary to show that the CRD has truly brought closure to an expensive and misguided scheme and to remove the cloud of mistrust over the new planning process.
Paying to discard McLoughlin was well worth it. The benefit is to demonstrate, in a single step, that the CRD is now ready to pay attention to the evidence, consider the taxpayers’ interest, look for innovation, be transparent and respect member municipalities. I look forward to our regional sewage plan continuing to show these basic virtues.
Irwin Henderson
Victoria
http://www.timescolonist.com/
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Prepare for expensive funeral arrangements (Langley)
TIMES COLONIST
SEPTEMBER 20, 2015
Re: “McLoughlin plant ruled out,” Sept. 13.
The McLoughlin sewage site scheme has been dead for nearly a year and a half. Over the past year, the Capital Regional District has brought out many new ideas for various treatment technologies and potential treatment sites with extensive public consultation through the eastside and westside committees.
The new CRD independent technical oversight panel’s first public report dated Sept. 4 identified the total absence of a CRD project-management plan to deliver sewage-treatment-system decisions from the huge range of technology ideas, 28 possible sites and public attitudes now on the table. The new panel chair would have to prepare the project-management plan for the CRD.
The agreement signed in March 2015 by the CRD to maintain $253 million of federal funding requires that a complete new treatment system is approved by the province with all treatment sites and disposal facilities defined, approved and secured by March 2016. This extremely tight schedule is already running three to four months late.
The sets of treatment and site options available for detailed engineering and cost evaluations will not be defined until mid-October, about three-and-a-half months after the agreed June deadline date. The CRD now wants to spend another $1.3 million of local taxpayer money over the next few months, but there is not enough time to catch up.
Goodbye, McLoughlin. Federal funding of $253 million is also dead. Very expensive funeral arrangements will be announced soon.
David Langley
Victoria
http://www.timescolonist.com/
TIMES COLONIST
SEPTEMBER 20, 2015
Re: “McLoughlin plant ruled out,” Sept. 13.
The McLoughlin sewage site scheme has been dead for nearly a year and a half. Over the past year, the Capital Regional District has brought out many new ideas for various treatment technologies and potential treatment sites with extensive public consultation through the eastside and westside committees.
The new CRD independent technical oversight panel’s first public report dated Sept. 4 identified the total absence of a CRD project-management plan to deliver sewage-treatment-system decisions from the huge range of technology ideas, 28 possible sites and public attitudes now on the table. The new panel chair would have to prepare the project-management plan for the CRD.
The agreement signed in March 2015 by the CRD to maintain $253 million of federal funding requires that a complete new treatment system is approved by the province with all treatment sites and disposal facilities defined, approved and secured by March 2016. This extremely tight schedule is already running three to four months late.
The sets of treatment and site options available for detailed engineering and cost evaluations will not be defined until mid-October, about three-and-a-half months after the agreed June deadline date. The CRD now wants to spend another $1.3 million of local taxpayer money over the next few months, but there is not enough time to catch up.
Goodbye, McLoughlin. Federal funding of $253 million is also dead. Very expensive funeral arrangements will be announced soon.
David Langley
Victoria
http://www.timescolonist.com/
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Linking Victoria's homeless housing initiative to CRD sewage plant costs:
Two Times Colonist letters today link City of Victoria homeless housing proposal with sewage treatment plant costs:
- Klashinsky:
http://www.timescolonist.com/opinion/letters/costs-of-homelessness-continue-to-mount-1.2064978
- White: http://www.timescolonist.com/opinion/letters/bankrupt-taxpayers-will-need-city-s-housing-1.2064979
