In an effort to simplify a complex issue, City of Powell River officials have separated co-treatment from other sewage treatment options.
Richard Stogre, the city’s manager of engineering services, went through the evolution of options at the March 3 liquid waste management steering committee meeting. He said part of the complexity has been comparing co-treatment to consolidation of sewage treatment at a new, stand-alone facility, a process that has been like comparing “apples and oranges.” The co-treatment option involves treating the city’s sewage at Catalyst Paper Corporation’s Powell River mill.
The proposal, Stogre said, is to make a decision between co-treatment or consolidation. “That’s the only decision that has to be made in the first phase of what we are doing,” he said. “We don’t need to look for other variables at this stage.”
The city is planning an open house to provide information to the community, followed by a dialogue meeting, where residents can provide input into the decision. This process is part of a public consultation plan, that is expected to be presented to the joint local-technical advisory committee on March 15.
All the information generated through public consultation will be gathered together and presented to the advisory committee, which will then make a recommendation to proceed with either co-treatment or consolidation, Stogre said. “That makes it quite simple and allows us to go to the next stage,” he said. “The next stage is location.”
The advisory committee recommendation goes to the steering committee. If the recommendation is for co-treatment and the steering committee agrees, then it goes to council for a final vote. If the recommendation is for consolidation and the steering committee agrees, it goes back to the advisory committee for site selection, then back to the steering committee and onto council.
Jim Palm, chair of the steering committee, provided an overview of the process to date and stressed that no decision has been made. “The upcoming public consultation events will provide an opportunity for all community members to be informed, to express their views and not be overshadowed by individuals who tend to dominate the discussion,” he said. “We must be consistent in our messaging and in following our process. We will be much more effective by providing accurate information in a controlled manner to the entire community rather than reacting to groups or individuals with a narrow or negative focus.”
The committee agreed with the proposal and passed a motion which stated that the public consultation plan focus on two options, co-treatment and consolidation, and following public consultation, the advisory committee will provide a recommendation to the steering committee on the preferred treatment option.
Meanwhile, Karen Skadsheim, on behalf of the Townsite Ratepayers’ Association, delivered a petition to city council at its March 3 meeting.
Over 300 people signed the petition, which opposes sewage treatment in the Townsite National Historic District.
Skadsheim said the statement was “fundamentally the same” as a 1997 petition, which opposed sewage treatment in Townsite. “It was noted as a key factor in having Townsite removed from consideration as a location for sewage treatment at that time,” she said. “Just two years before that petition, Townsite was designated as a nationally recognized historic district, confirming its significance as a historical asset not only to Powell River, but to all of Canada.”
Skadsheim also asked council to “instruct the liquid waste management committees not to proceed with the ill-conceived plan of using the old clarifier site and take Townsite off the table once and for all as a site consideration for liquid waste management planning.”
