A large-scale project to improve sewage treatment in Nanaimo is nearing completion. The $82-million initiative serves the City of Nanaimo, Snuneymuxw First Nation and portions of Lantzville (RDN)

By Ian Holmes

big project

Large sewage treatment upgrade in Nanaimo nears completion

Dec 11, 2019 | 3:53 AM

NANAIMO —The largest capital project in the Regional District of Nanaimo’s history has hit the home stretch, but area residents are warned of a few more growing pains.

The $82-million project to add secondary treatment ability and boost sewage capacity at the Greater Nanaimo Pollution Control Centre (GNPCC) on Hammond Bay Rd. should be complete by the summer, according to the RDN’s Sean de Pol.

The manager of wastewater services said the next two to three months will involve spurts of heavy noise and traffic as the focus transitions from the construction/clean-up phase to commissioning the new system.

“During that period of time we will be required to take the existing treatment plant and tying it into the new facility. As part of that there will be short period of times during that tie-in that odours will be released.”

The RDN recently updated local residents on what to expect in the project’s final phases, which De pol expected will be operational next summer.

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He said thousands of dump trucks worth of material were removed from the site near Hammond Bay Elementary School due to the need to embed several large tanks in the ground.

“Which has required us to remove thousands and thousands of cubic meters of material and as well a significant amount of rock blasting to make room for the expansion.”

De Pol said the project is behind schedule but within budget, which is a great accomplishment given its complexities.

He said City of Nanaimo required upgrades to the Hammond Bay Rd. frontage of GNCC property will be done next summer, involving a new sidewalk, street lights and landscaping

Upgrading the GNPCC is being paid for by reserves, development cost charges, borrowed funds and grants.

The facility is fed by three pump stations in Nanaimo, which is then treated and pumped through an underground pipe and into the ocean off Neck Point Park.

ian@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes