Russ Lyon received the following response from Director Judy Brownoff (Saanich Councillor) who is also the Chair of the CRD's Core Area Liquid Waste Managment Committee.
Hello Mr Lyon,
Thank you for your letter.
I want to assure you that, although, the $1.2 billion is the number everyone keeps coming back to, this number was an estimate with a very large contingency built into it. It was the starting point, which we knew would have more analysis to become more accurate to what we would ultimately build.
In fact some of the efficiencies and new technologies that our consultant team lead by Stantec has been looking at having the amount coming below $1 billion. The number cannot be tied down until the committee makes some decisions, including the business case, which is what the Provincial and Federal Governments need to analyze their amounts.
The issue of public-private partnerships is a requirement of the Provincial Government to evaluate. We have not been "ordered" to do a P3 but we must provide, in our business case, an evaluation.
The new Federal Regulations for wastewater treatment will be gazetted at the end of this year and will require ALL jurisidictions in Canada to meet secondary sewage treatment requirements. There are no exception. Victoria must be compliant by 2020. Fines under the Federal Fisheries Act can be as high as $300,000/day!
With respect to inflow and infiltration, this is part and parcel of our currently adopted Liquid Waste Management Plan. Municipalities are responsible for their pipes and property connections, and CRD is responsible for pump stations. Langford, Colwood and View Royal have relatively new systems, Victoria, Esquimalt, and Oak Bay are currently working on these issues. Saanich has an ongoing program to address our issue and we have been investing infrastructure spending in this regard over the last number of years.
The major issues are with cross connections, which in turn cause storm water to get into the sewer system, and then contribute to overflows of the sewer system. The residential cross connections generally occur on private property. Part of the recommendations the committee passed was to look at this issue and see if there was an opportunity to integrate a more aggressive approach to this issue. Staff is currently evaluating this issue.
With respect to a comment you mention from David Anderson. I did not hear this particular show but I would like to make it clear that first and foremost; neither provincial nor federal governments are required to fund this project. They can order treatment to a level and the local jurisdiction must comply. The funding for this project is through Infrastructure Canada program which requires the Provincial Government to be a partner for us to receive funds under this program.
Finally, the recommendations that the committee have approved are the "starting" point for this project, which will take many, many years. There will be more amendments to the Liquid Waste Management Plan over time. The committee has approved the first starting blocks, a base system that provides future flexibility, as recommended by the Peer Review Team we hired, which will be added to and altered over time.
The recommendations also included working with partners (UVIC and others) on the opportunities that can be created with resource recovery of heat and water reuse, and ultimately biogas and full waste stream integration over time.
The committee is working very hard with respect to this project. It is also fair to say that we will be meeting the requirements of both levels of government so that our Infrastructure Canada funding is not jeopardized.
Thank you for your comments.
Judy Brownoff
Saanich Councillor and CRD Director