City, province talk filling sewage plant funding gap

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This article was published 08/06/2023 (853 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A $360-million gap to complete the next round of upgrades to the North End Water Pollution Control Centre appears to be narrowing.

On Thursday, Manitoba Environment Minister Kevin Klein hinted provincial dollars could flow to the City of Winnipeg to help cover increased costs of a new biosolids facility at the sewage treatment plant.

The biosolids project will turn sludge produced during the treatment of wastewater into a product that can be used as fertilizer or soil.

The project was initially budgeted to cost $552 million, and all three levels of government committed to fully funding the project in August 2022. The province agreed to pay $167 million and the federal government pitched in $200.9 million.

However, city council has been warned inflation and project delays combined with steps to speed up the reduction of algae-promoting phosphorus in effluent water could push the price tag to $912 million.

Construction is expected to begin in 2025 and take five years to complete.

“Stay tuned,” Klein said when asked if the Progressive Conservative government would assist with soaring costs to improve the plant and bring it into compliance with its Environment Act licence.

Klein was joined Thursday by Coun. Brian Mayes (St. Vital) at the Manitoba Legislative Building to provide an update on the project and discussions of a new wastewater task force formed in late April.

The committee met for the first time last Friday, the Kirkfield Park MLA said.

“Stay tuned, because this task force — the very first meeting gave us some great insight and I’m expecting positive things to come from this from the provincial side that may help with funding,” Klein told reporters.

Mayes, who chairs the city’s water, waste and environment committee, said the task force resolved to stay the course and continue with all three phases of the upgrade project, including a new nutrient removal facility to pull nitrogen and phosphorus from wastewater.

No clear timeline or funding agreement for Phase 3 has been reached; all three project phases are now estimated to cost just over $2.2 billion, including the potential cost increases related to inflation and delays.

While the “billion-dollar issue” has yet to be resolved, Mayes said work is progressing.

“Things have started to move,” the city councillor said. “It was frankly a more productive meeting than I thought we would have. It wasn’t a bunch of dickering.”

The task force addressed perceived road blocks that may be stalling the project, and provincial and municipal representatives left the meeting with a better understanding of the issues, Klein said.

Phosphorus reduction efforts are also getting the desired results, the environment minister added.

Going forward, Klein said he’ll be taking a lead role in persuading Treasury Board and Ottawa the project deserves to be fully funded.

“Part of what I believe my responsibility is to (Lake Winnipeg) as environment minister, and working on the task force, is to put together the business case to ensure that the funding comes for the right reasons,” Klein said. “That we’re not just asking for money — that we have the scientific backing of why that money is necessary.”

While there was no federal representation at the first meeting, Klein said the group has the support of Winnipeg South MP Terry Duguid, parliamentary secretary for environment and climate change.

“When we get to the stage where we really need a federal representative to help us understand progressing through with the funding model and other items, they will be available for that,” he said.

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca