By Ian Holmes

$68M Regional District of Nanaimo mega project about to begin

Apr 17, 2017 | 4:17 PM

NANAIMO — Shovels are about to hit the ground on the most expensive capital project in the Regional District of Nanaimo’s (RDN) history.

The RDN board recently approved a construction contract to expand and upgrade the Greater Nanaimo Pollution Control Centre in Hammond Bay. The nearly $68 million project will mean additional capacity and improved treatment of wastewater in Nanaimo and a portion of Lantzville, according to the RDN’s manager of wastewater services Sean De Pol.

“Currently we remove approximately 75 per cent of material that comes to the treatment plant, (now) we’ll be removing up to 95 per cent,” De Pol said. “The other thing it does is it will provide additional capacity for future connections.”

De Pol said increasing the cleanliness of wastewater, which is pumped into the ocean following treatment, is important.

“When organics get into the environment as they break down they consume oxygen and deprive aquatic life of oxygen and ultimately die off.”

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De Pol said vastly expanding and upgrading their 44-year-old Pollution Control Centre involves retrofitting existing infrastructure.

He said there will added traffic and noise in the construction area.

“You will have excavators operating and running, there will be some blasting and of course general construction, hammering and so on will be occurring over the next couple years as well.”

De Pol said an open house on the project takes place on Wednesday, April 19 from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the Greater Nanaimo Pollution Control Centre at 4600 Hammond Bay Rd.

De Pol said additional engineering and design work will push the overall cost of the project up to about $80 million.

40 per cent of construction costs will be covered by future development, according to De Pol.

ian.holmes@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @reporterholmes