Other Stories
-
by Adrian Barnes on Jan 31 2012 -
by Contributor on Jan 31 2012 -
by Dr. Brenda Gill on Jan 31 2012 -
by Keith Simmonds on Jan 31 2012 -
by Rossland Recreation on Jan 31 2012
Up Trail Creek without a paddle? Region considers how to move forward on sewage issue
by Andrew Zwicker on 25 Aug 2010
Sewage treatment plant in Waneta
The yearlong disagreement in the region on how to cost share the regional sewer system isn’t stopping the Regional District from moving ahead in its liquid waste management planning process (LWMP). On August 4th the RDKB’s director of environmental services, Allan Stanley, issued letters to all of the region's councils asking whether or not they will be on board and participating in the long-awaited second stage of the LWMP. The message was quite literally one of “crap of get off the pot,” as the Regional District is required by provincial legislation to move forward on the plan with or without the participation of all local councils.
It was noted in the letter, however, that “any planning exercise will be of little value without a clear understanding of who the participants will be. Once all participants are identified, accurate planning parameters can be established and the liquid waste management plan can proceed.”
“We have to move forward on this plan by hook or by crook,” explained Stanley. “What is up in the air now is who is going to be participating in the plan. If there are still significant unknowns, something may have to happen where it is delayed, but there are significant motivators out there as well as legislated requirements that have to see us get back moving on the plan.”
One such motivator is the fact that the current sewage treatment plant in Waneta, behind the SPCA, is the province’s only remaining primary treatment sewage plant. While the plant has been operating within current provincial guidelines, it is expected that the province will soon be adopting new federal regulations requiring a minimum of secondary treatment. At that time, should any jurisdiction be in non-compliance, fines will range as high as one million dollars per day. Those fines, however, do not apply (barring no gross negligent activity) so long as the responsible government for the plant (RDKB) is within a liquid waste management planning process.
That planning process is a three step scenario. Stage one, which has already been completed, involved the identification of the existing system, issues and available options. It also identified the geographic area and the participating jurisdictions or potential participating jurisdictions. At that stage Beaver Valley and Fruitvale, whose sewage system is also nearing the end of its useful lifespan, noted that they would participate in the plan and would potentially be interested in partnering in a truly regional system.
That was where the planning process ended locally. The current SLP (supplementary letters patent) agreement between the communities gives any partner in the service the right to call a review at any time. In 2009 the City of Trail called for a review of the sewage agreement between the communities of Rossland, Trail, and Warfield, all of which use the same system, in the belief that Trail felt it was overburdened with an unfair portion of the overall costs.
Under the current cost apportionment system, Trail pays 68.95%, Warfield pays 10.14% and Rossland 20.91% of the total $1,073,000 cost. That breaks down as $740,000 from Trail, $108,000 from Warfield and $224,000 from Rossland annually.
The primary disagreement follows very closely in the footsteps of the regional recreation breakdown, with Trail and Rossland the two main parties at odds in the cost sharing agreements.
The potential new formula--based on 50% population and 50% flow--would have reduced Trail’s share of the cost to 58.83%, increased Warfield's up to 15.16% and Rossland's to 26.01%. In real dollars, Rossland's share would go from $224,000 to $280,000 per year, Warfield from $108,000 to $163,000 and Trail's costs would drop to $630,657 from $740,000.
Trail felt at that time that a deal had been reached prior to Rossland City council voting down the new terms and choosing to stick with the existing terms for the time being. Councillor Kathy Wallace of Rossland, who was on the review committee, saw the situation differently. “I said I would take it back to council for discussion there. I didn’t walk away saying, 'hooray, we’re definitely in'.”
Believing that Rossland reneged, the City of Trail has since refused to participate in Stage 2 of the LWMP until the cost apportionment is resolved. The City of Trail went so far as to threaten withdrawal from the service altogether and wrote to Bill Bennett, BC’s Minister of Community and Rural Development seeking advice on the stalemate, stating that “While we had hoped that a negotiated settlement could be achieved through the service review, the City may have to consider initiating withdrawal from the sewer service and the implications of doing so are now being more fully explored.”
That leaves the Regional District in the difficult position of being required to move forward with the LWMP without the cooperation of the largest municipality in the region.
“I just put the word out to all municipalities to see who will be on board with the Stage 2 plan. So far we’ve have heard back from Montrose. They would like to participate. Trail wrote back saying they will not participate until the regional agreement is worked out in a manner they can agree to,” explained Stanley. “Currently we’re running an old, outdated and tired primary treatment plant, so there is a lot of motivation of there for us right now to get this plan moving again. Quite simply, it’s something that needs to be done and needs to be done now.”
This past Monday night, Rossland City council voted in favor of participating in Stage 2 of the plan.
Stage 2 of the LWMP would incorporate expected volumes and facility sizing criteria, treatment options, land and location, conveyance and disposal methods, sustainability and resource recovery options, capital and operating costs estimates, public involvement and a final report for approval by the Ministry of Environment.
Following that, the final stage of the plan would involve the implementation strategies associated with the LWMP commitments and specific initiatives. This would also include stakeholder and public consultation.
The issue now for the Regional District is if and how they proceed with whichever municipalities agree to take part in the remaining stages of the planning process. As Stage 1 of the plan was developed with Trail's involvement, Stage 2--depending on Trail’s involvement--may require substantial work to be done on the initial work as the scenario would be dramatically different if Trail opts out. This, of course, then opens up the potential quagmire that if Trail does not participate in Stages 2 and 3 and then a new sewer agreement is reached, any work already done on the plan could become irrelevant.
“Parts of the plan may then need to be re-looked at if there is a dramatic change in who is participating,” added Stanley.
For now the Regional District will wait on responses from potential participants before moving forward. Depending on who's 'in', they may or may not be able to shortly begin Stage 2 of dealing with our region's...number two.
Comments
The sewage treatment issue: A stinky, complicated subject
More info
Thanks Kathy,Here's some more background on the issue as we reported last March :
http://rosslandtelegraph.com/node/5057
This article was looking at the movement on stage 2 of the LWMP with a quick touch on how we got there. This link is for the story on the service (dis)agreement.
Andrew