North end sewage plant upgrade estimate balloons to $3B

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This article was published 24/06/2024 (473 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The city’s most expensive infrastructure project could again surge hundreds of millions of dollars higher.

A new public service report suggests the price of the North End sewage treatment plant upgrade may rise again, adding on to a recent $2.38-billion estimate.

“The total estimated cost for the three projects (in the upgrade) is now approximately $3 billion,” a Winnipeg water and waste report notes.

The main subject of the report is a $19-million cost hike on a consulting portion of the work. It does not list reasons why a broader cost hike is expected.

The full three-phase upgrade was once expected to cost $795 million.

In an email, a city spokesman described the $3-billion reference as a “conservative” but not official estimate, noting the price of the third and final nutrient removal phase of the project is still being reviewed. The statement did note the tab for the second biosolids phase of the work recently rose to $1.035 billion from $552 million.

“It is anticipated that the nutrient removal project could increase in a similar fashion,” wrote spokesman Kalen Qually.

Qually said the figure was included in the report to provide “context of how the consultant assignment scope has changed since the assignment was awarded.”

Coun. Brian Mayes, the head of the city’s water, waste and environment committee, said he believes Winnipeggers are justified in worrying about how much their water and sewer rates could rise to help cover the potential cost.

“Hell, yes. I mean it’s a huge number … But, to some extent, the environment, improving our lakes will come at a cost,” said Mayes (St. Vital).

Both the councillor and Mayor Scott Gillingham noted the city is required by provincial law to complete the upgrade, which would update equipment, raise sewage capacity to support development and protect the environment.

The third nutrient removal phase of the project would greatly reduce the amount of algae-promoting nutrients in the plant’s effluent, which eventually wind up in Lake Winnipeg.

Gillingham said the project is the most complex and expensive one in the city’s 150-year history.

“The sheer magnitude of this project and the increased costs of the project … these are simply costs that we’re projecting that are increasing before we even put shovels into the ground … We need the provincial and federal government to increase their contribution levels,” he said.

The mayor said both senior governments have “been open” to the discussion of increased funding.

“Every level of government has made a commitment to improve the quality of Lake Winnipeg. Every level of government knows we need to accommodate the growth,” he said.

The report was released Monday, the same day the city announced it is now using a chemical process to cut pollution leaving the north end sewage plant.

The $19-million interim chemical phosphorous removal project is expected to reduce the amount of algae-promoting phosphorous leaving the plant by up to 38 per cent.

However, the interim steps won’t reach a provincial target to further reduce that pollution.

Alexis Kanu, executive director of the Lake Winnipeg Foundation, said she was “absolutely thrilled” to learn the chemical phosphorous treatment has started.

“It’s the single most important thing the city has done at the north end treatment plant to protect Lake Winnipeg,” said Kanu.

She urged the city to reassess the third nutrient removal phase of the sewage upgrade, since she fears its price is already delaying the work. Instead, she’d like the city to explore ways to further reduce pollution through chemical treatment.

“This system can be scaled up … to use this system to achieve phosphorus compliance … (as) we’re seeing skyrocketing costs for biological nutrient removal,” said Kanu.

Gillingham said he does want to determine if there are options to reduce the mega project’s price but notes that must be done in ways that still meet the upgrade’s expansion and pollution targets.

City officials warn the chemical process creates bulkier sludge and would require larger sewage digesters to use on a larger scale, adding to its expense. That process would also fail to reduce nitrogen and ammonia that leaves the plant, pollutants the city is also required to address, Qually wrote.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

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Joyanne Pursaga
Reporter

Joyanne is city hall reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. A reporter since 2004, she began covering politics exclusively in 2012, writing on city hall and the Manitoba Legislature for the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in early 2020. Read more about Joyanne.

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