While it took close to five hours over two days, City of Powell River council has made a decision on how to treat sewage.
Sort of.
The choice, for phased consolidated treatment, hinges on a long list of “subject tos,” put together by Councillor Dave Formosa, who, along with Councillor Chris McNaughton, has spearheaded the idea of treating the city’s sewage at Catalyst Paper Corporation’s Powell River mill. While the concept of joint treatment has been discussed off and on for a number of years, the latest drive for it came from discussions between Formosa, McNaughton and Catalyst representatives leading up to an agreement in principle, unveiled in 2010.
Since then, more questions than answers have been the norm in the long and winding process that is part of the city completing phase three of its liquid waste management plan. While some questions have been answered, many remain unanswered, as evidenced by the list of subject tos included in the motion choosing phased consolidation, which is just another name for joint treatment, followed by a consolidated plant sometime in the future.
Some of the unanswered questions are about the impact the city’s sewage will have on the health and safety of Catalyst employees. Due to the extensive research carried out by George Orchiston, a former Catalyst employee, city council has started to pay attention to this critical aspect of joint treatment. Orchiston is calling for the city to disinfect its wastewater stream before it reaches the mill’s industrial effluent treatment system, for sound reasons. Council needs more information on how much disinfection would cost and more tests need to be conducted, to determine what pathogens and toxins are in the city’s sewage and how that impacts the mill’s effluent.
The length of the two special council meetings alone attests to the attention to detail elected officials are paying to the issue. Clearly, more work needs to be done before the phased consolidated treatment option is the definitive choice.
