Repair coming for Greater Victoria sewage treatment plant, CRD says
It cost $775 million to build and took five years to complete. It’s the CRD’s sewage treatment plant, and so far, it’s not functioning as it should.
“One has to wonder what we got for $800 million,” said Hugh Stephens, vice chair of the Mount Work Coalition.
The plant was touted as the CRD’s sewage solution. Instead of pumping treated waste into the ocean, the region’s sewage would be turned into tiny pellets and sent to the Lafarge cement plant in Richmond, to be burned as an alternative to coal.
“Apparently, the anaerobic digester’s not working; the dryer’s not working,” said Stephens.
Right now, the pellets don’t meet Lafarge’s specifications, as they are not the right size, so the CRD had to do something with the biosolids the plant was producing.
“Right now, it’s just being dug in trenches and put into the landfill,” said Stephens.
Neighbours of the facility at Hartland Landfill have concerns about that.
“If there’s anything that goes wrong, Todd Creek is done, Saanich Inlet is done,” said Stephens. “You know, there have been issues in the past with leachate coming out.”
Mike Hicks sits on the CRD board. He admits there are issues with the plant.
“You know, all my life I’ve had engines, outboards,” said Hicks. “I’ve built fishing lodges, and once in a while I just got a lemon and no matter what I did to it, I just couldn’t get it to work. I really hope this isn’t one of those lemons.”
He’s confident that a fix will come, but in the meantime he feels for the people living and visiting the area around Hartland Landfill.
“The poor people of Willis Point are enduring this terrible stench as they do this, and hikers,” said Hicks. “It’s not good and it can only get better.”
The CRD says a fix is on it’s way.
Glenn Harris, senior manager of the CRD’s Environmental Protection Division, describes the issue as a mechanical one.
“We’re simply going to get a sieve in place where we can actually make sure that we can shake through the pellets and get them down to a size that Lafarge, the cement facility, can handle,” Harris said. “That’s a mechanical solution and we have that on order and we expect that to be in place in the next few weeks.”
Because of the project agreement, it won’t cost taxpayers any more money.
“(The contractors who did the work are) obligated and they have the liability to resolve the issues with the plant,” said Harris. “So they have an incentive to fix this as soon as possible.”
The CRD is hoping to have the problem resolved and to begin shipping bio-solids to Richmond this summer.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Orca calf that was trapped in B.C. lagoon for weeks swims free
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
Powerful tornado tears across Nebraska, weather service warns of 'catastrophic' damage
Devastating tornadoes tore across parts of eastern Nebraska and northeast Texas Friday as a multi-day severe thunderstorm event ramped up in the central United States, injuring at least three people.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Trump's lawyers try to discredit testimony of prosecution's first witness in hush money trial
Donald Trump's defence team attacked the credibility Friday of the prosecution's first witness in his hush money case, seeking to discredit testimony detailing a scheme between Trump and a tabloid to bury negative stories to protect the Republican's 2016 presidential campaign.