Shellfish harvesting in Sooke may be possible after wastewater treatment plant finishes upgrades
The Sooke Wastewater Treatment Facility is shown. Sept 28, 2022 (CTV News)
Faced with a steadily growing population, the District of Sooke will be upgrading the capacity of its wastewater treatment plant later this fall.
The upgrade will also enable the district to provide T’Sou-ke Nation with wastewater treatment services.
Members of the T’Sou-ke Nation rely on aging septic fields, some of which are leaching into the waters of Sooke Harbour, polluting the waters and making shellfish harvesting unsafe.
"Currently for the health of the harbour we’re seeing the fecal coliform units hovering around 50 colony-forming units per 100 millilitres," said Paul Bohemier, manager of wastewater for the District of Sooke on Wednesday.
"We would like to see that below 14 colony-forming units so that we could open up shellfish harvesting within the harbour," he said.
"The wastewater treatment plant, currently, with discharging out its outfall is less than one colony-forming unit," said Bohemier.
The Sooke Harbour is pictured. (CTV News)
Construction of the expansion is expected to start in late October or early November with the province contributing $4.6-million of the $6.58-million project.
The District of Sooke is covering the remaining $2-million. The municipality says its share of the cost will not impact taxpayers and will be reclaimed through development cost charges and other projects to offset the costs.
Connecting the T’Sou-ke IR2 sewage system to the expanded facility will begin in late 2023 or early 2024, with plans to connect theT’Sou-ke IR1 system still being worked out.
The Sooke Wastewater Treatment Facility is shown. Sept 28, 2022 (CTV News)
In July, T’Sou-ke Nation Chief Gordon Planes said residents wanted to contribute positively to the health of the environment and the community.
"This project reflects our commitment to preserving our ecosystem and fostering sustainable economic growth that will ensure that future generations can enjoy our beautiful waterways and coastlines for many years into the future," said Planes in a statement at the time.
The wastewater treatment plant expansion will increase the plant's capacity from 3-million litres of sewage a day to 4.5-million litres.
The project only covers the expansion of the wastewater treatment plant. The cost of hooking up the T’Sou-ke Nation sewage system to the plant is a separate project.
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