WHITEWATER REGION (Cobden) — The total costs of responding to a Part II Order regarding the upgrades of the Cobden Wastewater Treatment Plant haven’t yet been tallied, but when they are, a report will be provided to Whitewater Region council. But, it could be as high as $400,000.
Janet Collins, manager of Physical Services for the township, said correspondence was received from Gary Younghusband, secretary of the Muskrat Lake Association, advising it was removing the request for a Part II Order Request.
The Part II Order was filed by the Muskrat Lake Association in March 2017 with the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) asking that the township be required to prepare an individual environmental assessment for proposed Cobden Wastewater Treatment Plant upgrades.
A few days short of a year later, the ministry received correspondence from Mr. Younghusband, indicating that the Association wished to withdraw the Part II Order request.
With the removal of the Part II Order, the township can proceed with the project, noted Annamaria Cross, manager of Environmental Assessment Services Section at the MOECC. She noted the Order was withdrawn following the result of discussions between the Muskrat Lake Association, the MOECC and council.
At last Wednesday’s council meeting, Ms. Collins said there will be meetings with the consultants to see where they are on the project, with hopes of getting into high gear and get the design work started.
“I won’t know until after the meeting what the new schedule will be regarding construction,” she said.
Councillor Chris Olmstead questioned if the ministry will finish a review of the Part II Order.
Ms. Collins said within the past few weeks, there have been several conference calls and meetings with various departments and ministries to gather background information, and nothing had changed from the original information provided. It was more background documentation to support the quantities of sewage indicated and the detailed analysis and quantities to meet peak flows.
“The ministry was very close, but the Part II Order request was removed, so we can assume they are satisfied,” she said.
With the Part II Order being rescinded the ministry is giving permission to move forward, Ms. Collins said.
The township still has to proceed with the Environmental Compliance Approval (ECA), which will specify how much per day is allowed to be cleaned, capacity, etc., she said.
What is good, is that during the Part II Order review, staff from the ECA department were involved with some of the discussions, so hopefully that will expedite the process, she added.
Councillor Charlene Jackson wanted to know if the cost to defend the Part II Order has been provided to the 410 ratepayers who will have to pay for the defence. The project was delayed by a year and three months and there are going to be extra costs, she said.
“We don’t have any solid numbers,” Ms. Collins responded, but figured it could be between $200,000 to $400,000
Coun. Jackson believes the final figure will be close to $400,000.
“$400,000 on 410 users is not acceptable and their reason for doing the Part 2, that they’ve listed in the letter, is they are satisfied the plant is going to reduce the number of overflows into the Muskrat Lake,” she said. “It was very clear from the beginning that it was going to improve the whole process.
“So, I’m very confused as to, if that was the only issue, why were they not satisfied so much sooner,” she questioned.
Mayor Hal Johnson agreed, noting it’s a flaw in the system. The information the MOECC received was exactly the same information given to them in the original application that was approved.
“So, yes, it’s an expense that is going to cost our local people, the village people, and it’s going to cost them dearly,” he said. “I agree. We were fighting this. This is not acceptable to have this situation and it shouldn’t have went this far.”
Chief Administrative Officer Robert Tremblay said the planning team will meet and discuss the update and costs associated with the delay.
Coun. Jackson spoke about the article on the front page of the March 15 issue of the Whitewater News titled, Cobden Water Pollution Control Plant Part II order status, written by Muskrat Lake Association directors Donald Deer, Hugh Mitchell, Gary Younghusband, John Cull and Kevin Lamorie. The article stated the MLA and Jp2g tried to set up a meeting between the new council in February 2016 to discuss concerns the MLA had about bypasses of the plant it didn’t believe had been addressed.
Coun. Jackson said she was not aware of any requests for meetings.
Also in the story, it stated that Whitewater Region had taken the position that it will not deal with any groups other than the Muskrat Watershed Council, she added.
That decision had nothing to do with the wastewater treatment plant, she said. That decision was made because the Muskrat Watershed Council (MWC) had the support of other councils within the Muskrat Watershed, along with Algonquin College and the Ministry of Environment.
“I take great concern with the fact that Mr. Deer, Hugh Mitchell, Gary Younghusband, John Cull and Kevin Lamorie, I just don’t know why it was important to them to make that statement with regards to the sewage treatment plant,” Coun. Jackson stated. “One has nothing to do with the other.”
