Plan moving forward to treat sewage sludge

City council has taken another step toward solidifying a plan to deal with the city’s sewage sludge at the Jan. 19 policy committee meeting and will vote on the plan at the council meeting on Jan. 26.

For more than 30 years, the city has been dumping untreated sewage sludge in tailing ponds in Lively. The city is required by Vale and the Ministry of Environment (MOE) to find an alternate solution to the disposal by the end of 2012. Staff recommend the city build a $30 to $40 million waste-water treatment plant.

They also recommended the city adopt a design, build, finance, operate, maintain (DBFOM) procurement model, as outlined in a report by finance consulting company KPMG. A DBFOM model would require companies from the private sector to submit proposals, including a price and conditions on being able to operate the facility. From there, the chosen company would design, build, finance, operate and maintain the plant and the facility would remain the property of the city.

The DBFOM model will initially cost the city more than other options, but Oscar Poloni, partner with KPMG, said choosing the DBFOM model will cost less in the long run. Under the DBFOM model, the city is eligible for 25 per cent capital funding through the federal government’s PPP Canada program. The chosen company would also assume a higher risk factor, meaning if something were to go wrong, the responsibility would fall on the company and not the city.

Poloni said choosing the DBFOM model would also be beneficial to the city as staff do not have extensive knowledge on the technology behind biosolid plants.

Odours from the tailing ponds have been a minor issue in the past, but became significant in 2005. Since then, the problem has been addressed by using chemicals to reduce the smell. The city completed an environmental assessment in 2009 at the request of Vale and the MOE, and the decision was made to stop discharging the sludge in the tailings ponds by Dec. 31, 2012.

The motion was carried unanimously, but the policy committee questioned the timeline and spoke about asking for an extension past the 2012 deadline.

“Why put yourselves in that situation when you don’t need to?” Ward 11 Coun. Terry Kett asked. “If you absolutely have no choice, then move forward. But why not ask for an extension on this very short deadline? It doesn’t make sense to me.”

Mayor Marianne Matichuk said the project needs to move forward sooner than later to address the odour issues in the Lively area.

“If we extend it, are we not putting our citizens in that position longer than possible?” she said. “It’s important that we look to get this done.”

Ward 12 Coun. Joscelyn Landry-Altmann said she agreed that requesting an extension should be considered.

“I can’t think of a better partner to ask for an extension than Vale and the Ministry of Environment,” she said. “After all, Vale is now asking for another extension in their nickel air standards...so if anyone understands extensions it’s Vale and certainly the Ministry of Environment.”

Ward 2 Coun. Jacques Barbeau said he thinks the project should move forward as proposed as the project was originally supposed to be completed by 2010. “We’ve had an extension already,” he said. “(Vale is) now being told by the MOE that 2012 is the drop-dead date and that there are no more extensions.”

In the end, the policy committee decided not to ask for an extension at this point but instead unanimously voted on accepting the DBFOM model as well as a construction site on Kelly Lake Road.