In what can only be seen as coming full circle, an independent panel is recommending the Capital Regional District build a single regional tertiary sewage treatment plant at Esquimalt’s McLoughlin Point.
The new proposal, which still needs approval by the CRD board, has a pricetag of $765 million. That’s far less expensive than the other short-listed options — $920 million for a plant at Rock Bay or $1 billion for plants at Rock Bay and McLoughlin, says a panel report released Wednesday.
The new McLoughlin plan is remarkably similar to one rejected two years ago when Esquimalt council refused to approve variances to the zoning of McLoughlin to allow a regional enhanced secondary sewage treatment plant to be built there. That sent CRD staff and directors on a two-year, multimillion dollar search for a different option.
In May, with senior government funding deadlines looming, B.C. Community Minister Peter Fassbender stepped in and gave control of sewage treatment planning to an expert panel called the Core Area Waste Water Treatment Project Board.
Panel chairwoman Jane Bird said the recommended option is not the same proposal that was rejected by Esquimalt, but instead builds on and enhances the previous plan.
“I think that we’re of the view that what we’re recommending adds value to what has been recommended before in the following ways: One, we think we have a plant that is more responsive to the concerns of residents. It’s a smaller footprint; it’s setback from the foreshore; it has a much more tiered green roof; it has extensive landscaping. Secondly, it has tertiary treatment,” Bird said.
Tertiary is regarded as the highest level of treatment, removing the most contaminants. The resulting water could be clean enough to use for landscape watering or for industrial purposes.
The panel believes the proposed plant meets Esquimalt’s zoning bylaw requirements and design guidelines, Bird said.
While disappointed that McLoughlin has been chosen as the sole site for a regional sewage treatment, Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins said this is an entirely new proposal that meets many of the concerns that were raised over the last plan. Those include tertiary treatment instead of secondary, setbacks, lowering the building height, a green roof, inclusion of a multi-use space and upgrades such as landscaping for the pump station at Macaulay Point.
“I think everybody is going to find something they like, and I think everybody is going to find something they were hoping for that isn’t there,” said Desjardins, who also chairs the CRD board. “I think what has to be clear is this isn’t the same old plan. This is a very different plan.”
Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps praised the plan. “It’s better news than any of us could have hoped for,” said Helps, who chairs the CRD’s sewage committee. “We have a better plant, with better treatment for less money.”
The panel’s report will go to the CRD board for consideration on Sept. 14. Helps doubts approval will be unanimous, but said the board should pass it “and get the shovels in the ground as quickly as possible.”
“This project has taken many twists and turns and time spent and angst spent, but at the end of the day we are getting a better project with better treatment for less money,” she said.
The proposed budget includes $5 million for refinements to the exterior of the plant and landscaping or other design issues that may arise during Esquimalt’s development permit process.
The panel report says the plan includes amenities valued at about $20 million, including an annual payment to Esquimalt of $55,000.
It recommends leasing property from First Nations in Rock Bay, providing a spot for the contractor to amass construction materials that will be barged to McLoughlin, lessening the impact on Esquimalt roads and neighbourhoods.
The report recommends spending $2 million to study a sewage treatment proposal for Colwood — money needed to complete technical studies and environmental impact assessments.
Bird said the plan for sewage treatment can be completed in time to meet the federal government’s deadline of 2020. “We’ve done a pretty detailed schedule review and we’re confident it can be done by December of 2020. That said, to say that the schedule is ambitious would be an understatement. You’d have to proceed crisply, let’s put it that way.”
Harbour Resource Partners was picked to build the plant in the 2014 plan. Hiring it to build the revised plant is “legally acceptable and consistent with public sector procurement policies,” the report says.
While the CRD board has final say, it’s under pressure to submit a formal business case to the provincial and federal governments by Sept. 30 or risk losing up to $500 million in grants.
If the plan proceeds the estimated annual costs for homeowners are: Oak Bay, $344; Saanich, $208; Victoria, $296; Esquimalt, $258; View Royal, $248; Colwood, $146; and Langford, $239.
bcleverley@timescolonist.com
