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Time to rethink entire sewage plan
 Dr. Jack Littlepage, Professor Emeritus, University of Victoria Jack L. Littlepage, Times Colonist, July 27, 2010
If anyone in Victoria doubts that the CRD is hopelessly mired in sewage they need only to read the report of last week’s CRD committee meeting.
View Royal Mayor Graham Hill summed it up by saying too many of the CRD’s decisions are being driven by funding, not poop.
It is time to look at what we are getting for our $780 million-plus: A liquids-only sewer plant on prime harbour waterfront, pipelines to Hartland, unspecified biosolids treatment (somewhere) and annual operating costs in the millions.
We are not getting improved health benefits, environmental enhancement or elimination of deepwater marine outfalls. This is confirmed by volumes of local, national and international reports.
The CRD sewer committee should revisit its goals and adopt a waste-water treatment system that emphasizes environmental protection.
Currently, they are focused on technical solutions without regard to environmental impacts.
With some improvements to our current treatment system and minor changes to proposed regulations that would recognize the concept of initial dilution-zone mixing we can easily meet or exceed the national standards for environmental protection as well as meet Environment Minister Barry Penner’s requirement for additional treatment.
And we would still have money left over to tackle real problems such as storm drain outfall systems, social housing and community health.
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Whatever It Takes! - Esquimalt residents ready to fight CRD’s sewage treatment plan
Esquimalt Review.com, Tim Morrison, July 27, 2010 at 6:03 pm
It was a hot summer evening last week at Esquimalt Municipal Hall….hot in temperatures and hot in tempers.
Of note, there was absolutely no CRD representation in attendance to hear the concerns of the community during this traditional Town Hall-style Meeting….not even one CRD official had the decency or, more likely, the courage to face the people most impacted by a the CRD’s irresponsible planning. One speaker after another lined up to point out the many foibles of the project, often referred to as “billion dollar boondoggle”.
 Outrage at Esquimalt Chambers towards CRD The crowd included experts, engineers, and environmentalists, all of whom pointed out that the project is not only too costly at $300 per year per household, but that it also hurts more than helps the environment.
The people of Esquimalt stressed that this is not about NIMBYism (Not In My Backyard syndrome), but rather more about common sense and doing what is in the best interests of the environment and the taxpayers. All of the public input pleaded with Council to do “whatever it takes” to halt the project from becoming reality, a message heard loud and clear by Council.
“This is not just an Esquimalt problem,” declared Mayor Barb Desjardins. “This is a regional disaster that is occurring. This is not the right plan.”
Councillor Don Linge, a lawyer by profession, described the situation as “a classic class-action case in which we are all impacted” in referring to the need for all CRD residents to join forces in stopping the project through whatever legal means available.
Councillor Randall Garrison vowed that he was willing to play nice with the CRD and approach the matter rationally to negotiate a solution in the best interests of Esquimalt, but if the CRD continue to ignore our community, then he is prepared to have Council obstruct the project through whatever means possible including bylaws that would ban trucking in/out of the site.
As the evening wore on and as both the public and Council expressed themselves so passionately, it became abundantly clear that the CRD have picked a fight with the wrong community and one that will not standby and allow this project to be bulldozed into our home.
“We are Esquimalt, we are proud, and we have a voice,” declared Councillor Meagan Brame.
Esquimalt’s next move will likely involve legal action against the CRD in a case of taxpayer suing taxpayer…a mess all of the CRD’s making and a mess much more revolting that anything in our sewage system.
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Residents take action against sewage treatment in Esquimalt
Erin Cardone, Victoria News, July 16, 2010 2:59 PM
John Bergbusch and a team of Esquimalt residents are pounding the pavement this weekend.
Armed with 4,500 fliers with details and opinions on the Capital Regional District’s plans for a sewage treatment site at McLoughlin Point, the group are trying to rummage up folks to attend a special public meeting Monday (July 19).
Esquimalt council hopes to get public opinion on the sewage plan, which has already been sent to the province for approval.
“From there, they’ll come up with some sort of action plan based on residents’ comments,” said Carolyne Evans, the township’s manager of corporate services.
Bergbusch hopes enough residents will come to the Monday meeting that council chambers will overflow with people. A member of ARESST – the Association for Responsible and Environmentally Sustainable Sewage Treatment – Bergbusch is upset with the planning process and in disagreement with the CRD’s position that land-based treatment is necessary.
“We want to see residents out at the meeting to give council the ammunition to say ‘absolutely not’ (to the McLoughlin site),” he said
on a break from distributing pamphlets.
He added he’s confident a major groundswell could change CRD board members’ minds on the issue.
“I believe ultimately the CRD board and Minister (of Environment Barry Penner) will come to their senses.”
ARESST isn’t the only group opposed to a sole sewage treatment facility at McLoughlin Point.
“We feel quite slighted by the CRD and we support Esquimalt council in its efforts to hold the CRD accountable,” said Tim Morrison of the Esquimalt Residents’ Association. “The residents of Esquimalt are united with council in opposition to the CRD and in outrage to the way the CRD is ramming through a project that has received no meaningful consultation and no input from the people that are the most negatively impacted.”
The township’s mayor and councilors have all spoken strongly against the CRD’s sewage plan.
The meeting is at Esquimalt council chambers, 1229 Esquimalt Rd., 7-9 p.m. on Monday, July 19. To contact Bergbusch, call 250-532-2600.
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Look back for guidance on sewage treatment
 Chris Garett, PhD, Lansdowne Professor of Ocean Physics Letter from Dr. Chris Garrett, Times Colonist, 11 July 2010
In September 1994, the B.C./Washington marine science panel released its report, based on the input of dozens of marine scientists on both sides of the border.
The report listed priorities for the protection of our shared waters, while finding the impact of Victoria’s sewage discharge is negligible.
A Times Colonist editorial on Sept. 8, 1994, quoted then-premier Mike Harcourt as stating that the province was still committed to a 15-year timetable to acquire a site and move toward treatment.
But the editorial also said, “Before you start spending any serious sums of our tax dollars on a treatment plant, Mr. Premier, you had better be damned certain there is a scientifically corroborated need for it.” This need is still absent.
Sure, the influence of wastewater discharge can be detected around the deep outfalls, but Victoria’s effective source control (much improved since 1994) and screening, combined with oceanographic conditions, mean the contamination is minor and no more than that around the outfalls from municipalities with land-based secondary treatment. Moreover, the CRD’s own scientific investigations show marine life around the outfalls is thriving.
There is no valid scientific justification for the provincial order or the “one size fits all” regulations proposed by the federal government.
It will be tragic if hundreds of millions of dollars are squandered on an unnecessary, destructive land-based sewage treatment plant, leaving no resources or public appetite for measures that really would improve the health of the marine environment.
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CRD sewage meeting: Hot debate about who should oversee $780-million project
Cindy E. Harnett, Times Colonist, July 15, 2010
A provincial requirement that a public-private partnership be considered to build Esquimalt’s $780-million centralized sewage plant and that an arms-length body govern that construction phase rattled some Capital Regional District politicians Wednesday.
As a one-third funding partner for the sewage plant, the province wants an arm’s length board govern the project. Three models were briefly considered by the Core Area Liquid Waste Management Committee yesterday: A committee, government corporation, or commission model.
CRD staff recommended that the commission model be adopted.
Staff proposed the commission model consists of nine members with relevant expertise and experience: Ideally five nominated by the CRD board, and two each by the federal and provincial governments.
Members would also be remunerated. Board members for the Vancouver Convention Centre, for example, received $22,000 per year while the chair received $29,000.
Victoria Coun. Philippe Lucas took the first swing at the recommendation, pointing out the commission model includes no elected officials.
“We’ve gone too far in trying to meet the province’s goals and needs in this project,” Lucas said in an interview. “I can’t think of a good
reason why we should have this project be arm’s length from the municipalities that will be deeply affected and are providing one-third of the funding.”
Victoria Mayor Dean Fortin was also uncomfortable with the idea noting that elected officials should have input. He asked staff to bring back further information.
As well, the province requires that any body with a capital project with more than $50 million in provincial funding must consider using a public private partnership.
That issue put Colwood Mayor Dave Saunders and Lucas at logger heads with Lucas suggesting the majority of people in the region don’t want a public-private partnership and Saunders saying the committee promised to explore the “least cost” option whether that was union or private or both.
The debate heated up quickly and with time running out the meeting was adjourned until July 28, or later.
Afterwards, in camera, the committee decided committee chairwoman Judy Brownoff and Victoria Coun. Geoff Young will discuss the issue when they meet with Community and Rural Development Minister Ben Stewart Friday. It may be that part of the construction is carved up so that some portion is built under a public-private partnership to fulfill provincial requirements.
In reality, the scheduled discussion about a CRD staff recommendation to adopt a commission-type governance model to oversee the construction of the secondary sewage treatment plant was sidelined before it even started Wednesday by sharp criticisms about the lack of vision and public consultation around the present site.
Esquimalt resident Rosemary Murray scolded members of the Core Area Liquid Waste Management Committee yesterday for doing the cheapest thing in choosing McLoughlin Point, rather than doing the right thing.
“At present the legacy you face is one of inaction and $20 million spent on going backwards,” Murray said. The CRD is trying to rationalize an outdated model and trying to convince the public it’s the only choice, she said.
Carole Witter followed by saying the stench around the way the site was chosen — after two weeks of closed-door meetings to meet an unofficial deadline for federal funding — is worse than anything real sewage could ever produce.
“Where is the consultation around this entirely new plan, where is the courtesy of considering the real impact on my community, where is the business plan around the real costs of dealing with the sludge?” Witter asked.
Those criticisms kicked off almost 90 minutes of responses from the region’s politicians before the scheduled governance issue could be discussed.
Saanich Coun. Susan Brice suggested all directors be mindful of the fact that Esquimalt residents feel like they have been “left holding the bag” and believe they haven’t been given as much consideration as the rest of the region.
The alleged lack of consultation came down to a discussion amongst CRD politicians and staff to the different definitions of the words information, education and “consultation”.
A few directors and CRD spokesman Andy Orr admitted communication around the McLoughlin site was not ideal because so much time and focus was spent in these final months trying to secure Victoria’s Upper Harbour site, which fell through.
Trucks arose as another hot-button issue.
All directors agreed the CRD needs to better ensure the public that sludge will not be trucked from the sewage treatment plant in Esquimalt — instead it will be piped 18 kilometres uphill from Esquimalt to Hartland landfill. “It has to be written in stone,” said Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins.
However, a motion by Victoria Coun. Lucas to put this promise in writing was then withdrawn after directors disagreed on how to most effectively entrench that promise.
Desjardins then raised the issue that during peak periods about 80 trucks or more a day could be passing through her streets during the plant’s three-year-and-a-half-year construction phase. “These are issues we need to discuss,” Desjardins said.
Jack Hull, the CRD’s general manager of Integrated Water Services, confirmed that the sewage sludge will be carried through pipes of approximately 300 millimeters in circumference and will definitely not be trucked to Hartland, the most likely site.
As for the perceived lack of consultation, Hull said the CRD “will be back in Esquimalt in September” to discuss the future for a new centralized sewage to be built in Esquimalt’s McLoughlin Point by 2016.
View Royal Mayor Grant Hill summed up much of the day’s discussion saying too many of the CRD’s decisions are being driven by funding.
“Money is the thing, not the poop, not the waste, it’s the money that matters to us in the end.”
Once a governance model is chosen and the provincial and federal governments each kick in their one third of the funding, the new governing body will take over in leading the project through its construction phase.
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Region made bad sewage-plant choice, Esquimalt mayor says
Cindy E. Harnett, Times Colonist, July 09, 2010
Esquimalt’s mayor says McLoughlin Point is the wrong place for a centralized sewage plant, and she’s demanding that B.C.’s environment minister reject the plan or live with the outfall.
“We’re making the wrong decision and environmentally it will end up being detrimental, so we need to quickly make a change,” said
Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins.
Esquimalt council voted unanimously against the liquid waste management plan Wednesday night.
On June 23, the Capital Regional District board, scrambling to make a June 30 deadline for provincial and federal funding, approved
McLoughlin Point as the site for the region’s only treatment plant.
The decision was such a departure from earlier plans for up to 11 small treatment plants that even those in favour of the McLoughlin
site called the turnaround bizarre.
The CRD has been ordered by the provincial government to have secondary sewage treatment in place by 2016. Currently, sewage passes through a six-millimetre screen before it flows into the ocean.
The new site was approved by the majority of the CRD, but the province has the final say.
Desjardins said the new Area Liquid Waste Management Plan doesn’t fulfil the environment minister’s mandate that the CRD use new
technology in terms of beneficial reuse of resources and generating offsetting revenue.
“There may be a need for [Environment Minister Barry Penner] to reiterate that to the CRD,” Desjardins said. “Politically, for all of
us, if we go down this route … I think it will be extremely detrimental and we will answer to it in a very bad way as we go
forward.”
Penner was unavailable for a phone interview yesterday. “The minister has not reviewed it at this point,” said Suntanu Dalal, an Environment Ministry spokesman, in an e-mail.
Desjardins said the CRD “made a bad decision” because of a deadline and fears federal funds would dry up if a timely decision wasn’t made. The first time the CRD put forward a plan for centralized liquid waste management, Penner sent it back, instructing the CRD to look at new technologies to maximize waste streams and create energy and revenue.
Esquimalt council will hold a public forum July 19 at Esquimalt city hall to talk with residents about the CRD site plan that was discussed behind closed doors. The mayor plans to meet with Penner within the next few weeks and has a meeting scheduled with Ben Stewart, minister of community and rural development, on July 16.
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Esquimalt, Victoria residents not consulted on liquid waste plant
 Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins Barb Desjardins, Special to Times Colonist, July 07, 2010
Saanich Coun. Judy Brownoff paints a rosy picture of decisions made on sewage treatment that are not at all rosy in “McLoughlin Point is the obvious choice” (June 29).
Brownoff, chairwoman of the Capital Regional District’s core liquid waste management committee, defends the latest plan to have only one liquid waste treatment plant at McLoughlin Point in Esquimalt.
But the committee has failed to meet the provincial environment minister’s directives for liquid waste management in some key areas.
The Environment Management Act says, “The minister may not approve a waste management plan unless the minister is satisfied that there has been adequate public review and consultation with respect to the development, amendment and final content of the waste management plan.”
The CRD failed to undertake public consultation with the communities of Esquimalt and Victoria on putting a plant on McLoughlin Point.
It has held only general open houses in these areas, compared to the significant engagement process that occurred for Saanich East and Oak Bay when plants were proposed for those areas.
The CRD has set up two more open houses, but they will not allow public review of the plan.
In the district’s words, “The CRD is engaging with the community of Esquimalt so that residents may give feedback and suggestions on mitigation and community benefits to lessen the impact of hosting a wastewater treatment facility.”
Residents are not being consulted on the plan, as required under the law. They are being presented with a done deal.
I voted against this plan as a member of the waste committee because of the lack of information on cost, transportation, location and treatment for the biosolids component.
If McLoughlin Point is the sole liquid waste treatment site, the biosolids — sludge — will have to be transported somewhere else for treatment. And at this point, there is no real certainty about where that will be.
The main option appears to be transporting sludge 18 kilometres to the Hartland landfill, but the environmental, social and economic costs are still unknown.
I would encourage everyone to look at how this will be done — perhaps through their neighbourhoods.
The current plan is to build a pipeline, but as plans have changed many times and without warning, residents can’t have confidence that this will happen.
There has been no public consultation regarding this component of the project, either.
The environment minister was also clear in requiring resource recovery and revenue generation as part of the treatment plan.
But there is no evidence that these requirements have been fully addressed in the current model. This also raises concern there will be added costs, above the $782-million project estimate, to realize resource recovery.
The only resource recovery left in this plan is the sale of biomethane, with the residual dry biosolids, to cement kilns and the recovery of phosphorus for formation of struvite.
Optimum revenue generation from resource recovery comes from the solid and organic waste components. We have not included these wastes in this plan despite the minister’s direction to do so.
In Edmonton, the city receives $135 million in revenues from waste processing and is moving to 90 per cent waste diversion. Halifax, San Francisco and Oakland have similar targets.
The insignificant revenues projected by the CRD are far short of what can be achieved.
I also could not support the current proposal because of the concerns and unknowns regarding the McLoughlin site.
These were expressed by CRD’s expert peer-review panel and by consultants and include concerns about the size of the site, the unknowns regarding contamination and cleanup costs. The fact that this site is within the provincial tsunami zone and new information regarding climate change, rising sea levels and increasing storm surges must be considered within the environmental impact study for this site. This study has not been completed.
My final reason for not supporting this new plan is the significant cost to residents of this region. Although the costs have come down by $400 million, the cost of $200 to $500 per household per year is staggering. With current municipal taxation allocation weighted heavier to business, I cannot even fathom the impact of such an increase to businesses of the region.
This is not a rosy picture — and the smell will certainly not be of roses if treatment is done in the wrong way.
- Barb Desjardins is Esquimalt`s mayor and its representative on the CRD board. She is a member of the liquid waste management committee.
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Anderson, Turpin named to Order of Canada
David Karp, Times Colonist, June 30, 2010
Longtime Victoria politician David Anderson has been named an officer of the Order of Canada, while University of Victoria president David Turpin has been named a member of the order.
Gov.-Gen. Michaëlle Jean on Wednesday announced 74 new appointments to the Order. Recipients will be invited to accept their insignia at a ceremony to be held at a later date, the office of the governor general said in a news release.
Anderson, 72, was first elected to Parliament as the MP for Esquimalt-Saanich in 1968, before resigning to enter provincial politics. He won election again as Victoria’s MP in 1993 and spent more than 10 years in cabinet under Liberal prime ministers Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin, holding posts as national revenue minister, transport minister, fisheries and oceans minister and environment minister. Anderson retired from politics in 2005.
Anderson was named an officer of the order for his “long-time contributions to the conservation movement as an activist and politician, and for his role in introducing legislation that protects Canada’s natural resources.”
Turpin, a 53-year-old botanist who has served as UVic’s president since 2000, was honoured for his contributions to Canada as a scholar, scientist and administrator and for community service to Victoria.
Also appointed to the order are Vancouver 2010 Olympic Organizing Committee CEO John Furlong, Burnaby actor Michael J. Fox and Canadian astronaut Julie Payette.
In 1999 Payette, 46, became the first Canadian to visit the International Space Station. Last summer she returned to the station with Robert Thirsk. The two astronauts became the first Canadians to meet in space.
One of the co-founders of the Canadian organization Beyond Borders was also among the 74 appointees. Rosalind Prober helped form the group which describes itself as Canada’s voice against child sexual exploitation.
The Order of Canada was established in 1967 and any Canadian may be nominated, except for federal and provincial politicians as well as judges, who cannot receive an appointment while in office.
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McLoughlin Point is the obvious choice
Judy Brownoff, Times Colonist, June 29, 2010
Centralized operations will reduce costs, add environmental benefits.
McLoughlin Point represents the most comprehensive, intelligent and responsible site for secondary sewage treatment in the core area of the Capital Regional District.
A centralized liquids-only facility on McLoughlin Point will bring many more benefits than other options would, including lower costs and a reduced impact on the environment. It is the logical choice.
The site became feasible because of a key decision by the provincial government concerning water reuse. Residents, inspired by the CRD’s demand management programs, are demonstrating exemplary water conservation efforts. With the purchase of the Leech watershed lands, water resources are extensive enough to accommodate projected growth.
Based on our success, the province removed the requirement that water reuse be included in a wastewater treatment system for the core area — Victoria, Esquimalt, Saanich, Oak Bay, View Royal, Langford and Colwood. As a result the CRD could consider the consolidation of sites, and the site on McLoughlin Point in Esquimalt became the obvious choice.
This decision also allows the replacement of a Saanich East treatment facility with attenuation tanks and the elimination of the immediate need for a West Shore facility.
The CRD has been working on its sewage treatment plans for three years. With every amendment submitted to the Minister of Environment, we have reduced costs, refined resource recovery opportunities and better accommodated the communities in which wastewater treatment facilities were considered.
The reductions in costs are significant and will make the wastewater system far more sustainable for future generations. With the choice of McLoughlin Point, the largest reduction yet in cost has been made possible.
Capital costs are now set at $782 million and operating costs at $14.5 million, resulting in an average cost of $300 per household per year, in a range of $210 to $500 for most people. A host of available resource recoveries will see the potential for more than 18,500 tonnes of carbon offsets per year.
Resident concern in siting a wastewater facility near neighbourhoods was noted at many public open houses, by CRD consultants and peer review teams. This social concern also helped shape the final configuration.
By choosing a site removed from dense residential areas, facilities will have much less overall impact.
A centralized facility allows the CRD to work within the confines of limited siting options and to impact as few neighbourhoods as possible.
Initially, a distributed wastewater system was chosen in part due to the potential resource recovery opportunities it could offer. The
McLoughlin Point site and treatment plant has been a cornerstone of every option since the start of planning.
With that site, resource recovery opportunities such as heat, energy, biogas, biosolids and phosphate can still be included in the plan.
Heat recovery will be possible in adjoining neighbourhoods such as National Defence lands and James Bay.
The biosolids facility will produce 22 tonnes of dry biosolids each day by 2030. This will be used as a fuel substitute in cement kilns.
The McLoughlin plant will see $3.1 million in resource recovery revenues by 2030.
With only one continuously operating outfall, marine life and water quality will improve for our waters and shorelines.
There will be no need for shellfish closures around the previously proposed outfall site in Saanich East. That will prevent the disruption of fisheries and First Nations traditional fishing grounds.
Centralized facilities will also mean truck traffic will be eliminated or greatly reduced in most communities.
We have no choice but to move ahead. Secondary sewage treatment will be required by federal regulations by 2020, and the provincial government has ordered the CRD to initiate secondary treatment for the region.
The final plan for treatment helps ensure that both levels of government will provide the funds they have promised, and will let the
CRD comply with new regulations.
The CRD’s core area liquid waste management committee is firmly behind the decision to bring sewage treatment to the region. Research in the past three years has provided the CRD with time to adjust and alter the core area wastewater system configuration until the best scenario was found — and that scenario is McLoughlin Point.
The CRD’s philosophy is to improve the wastewater system as opportunities arise. This will ensure that the McLoughlin Point choice
will offer, for years to come, the lowest cost, the least impact on the environment and residents and the highest possible use of wastewater resources.
- Saanich Coun. Judy Brownoff is the chairwoman of the Capital Regional District’s core area liquid waste management committee.
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Keith Martin: The CRD should stand up to the province
Edward Hill, Goldstream News Gazette, June 24, 2010 5:01 PM
Juan de Fuca MP Keith Martin calls regional sewage treatment an unnecessary, $800 million “boondoggle” and argues the CDR board should stand up to the province.CRD board members have said that they are under orders from the Ministry of the Environment to implement sewage treatment, which has been handed down from the federal government.
“The CRD has got a duty to stand up and state the facts, not a duty to roll over,” Martin said. “Saying they were told to do something is not acceptable.”
Martin says 99.8 per cent of effluent flowing into the Straight of Juan de Fuca is water and the vast majority of solids are captured at
the existing primary sewage treatment plant. The main problem is stormwater infiltrating into old sewer lines in the core
municipalities and overflowing into the ocean, he said. Municipalities need to repair aging infrastructure before taxing citizens for sewage treatment, he said.
“Why are they spending $800 million to treat effluent that is 99.8 per cent water?” Martin said. “They are treating a non-existent problem.”
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"If this was Australia, we would have the opportunity to build an Opera House on that site because it's a worthy site, what we're trying to do today is build the mother of outhouses."
Graham Hill, Mayor of View Royal
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