South End sewage plant upgrade nearing completion about 12 years late

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This article was published 05/02/2024 (579 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The city hopes to complete its South End sewage treatment plant upgrade by the end of June, about 12 years after its original deadline.

Coun. Brian Mayes, chairman of the water and waste committee, said the project designed to boost the plant’s treatment capacity and meet provincial environmental requirements does seem to be nearing its end.

“It’s been a rocky road but we are (near) the end of it…. Getting it across the finish line, I think, will be a great relief to all of us. And then we can use some of the lessons and hopefully apply that to the North End (sewage treatment plant upgrade),” said Mayes (St. Vital).

The city originally expected to complete the plant’s upgrade in 2012.

A water and waste department report on the project notes the municipal government’s “builders risk” insurance policy for the South End upgrade expired Dec. 31 and can’t be extended.

That leaves the city to self-insure parts of the project, said Cynthia Wiebe, the department’s manager of engineering services.

“Given the fact that we’re nearing completion, we think that it’s a manageable risk. So, once we (take) an area over (from the contractor), it falls under the city’s property insurance,” said Wiebe.

In the meantime, a few risks remain. The report notes delamination (or peeling) of walls in plant fermenters and odour-control tanks was recently discovered and could still affect the latest target completion date, though the city is working to avoid a delay.

“We are doing everything we can to meet that timeline,” said Wiebe.

The report also notes insurance claims have not yet been settled over a power imbalance at the plant that caused damage in December 2021, leaving the risk of potential legal action in the future.

The city has blamed other delays on a contractor’s missed deadlines.

In recent years, the project’s price has grown from $335.6 million to $375.6 million, which includes some provincial and federal funding.

Last year, the city reached a major milestone on the project by regularly meeting targets to greatly reduce pollution leaving the plant under normal weather conditions. Effluent from the plant now consistently meets a provincial directive to contain less than 1 milligram per litre of phosphorous and less than 15 milligrams per litre of nitrogen, both of which promote algae growth.

However, that achievement was met using ferric chloride. To complete the project, the plant must reach the target through a fully biological treatment process.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

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