Costs for another Metro Vancouver sewage plant a concern, $60M contract approved

As contention swirls astir nan massively overbudget Metro Vancouver Wastewater Treatment Plant, early activity connected an moreover bigger sewage works is moving ahead.

The 61-year-old Iona Island Wastewater Plant needs an upgrade to service Metro Vancouver’s surging organization and to meet national contamination regulations.

The facility, located betwixt South Vancouver and nan Vancouver International Airport, handles astir 40 per cent of nan region’s wastewater.

That task is presently budgeted astatine $10 billion, and connected Wednesday nan Metro Vancouver Liquid Waste Committee approved a $60-million statement for creation consultants.

The task faces awesome nationalist scrutiny amid backlash complete nan North Shore project, which has seen its projected costs quadruple to astir $4 billion.

Newly elected Metro Vancouver Board Chair Mike Hurley said he was concerned astir preventing a repetition connected nan Iona project.

“Because I ever spot an unfastened chequebook erstwhile it comes to consultants, for immoderate reason,” he said. “I really do request to understand that we are keeping a existent lid connected really overmuch we’re paying consultants.”

While Metro Vancouver has announced a reappraisal of nan North Shore plant, calls for a provincial aliases national audit person truthful acold gone unanswered.

New Westminster City Councillor Daniel Fontaine said that’s a problem erstwhile money is already being spent connected nan Iona project.

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“The public, astatine slightest astatine this shape and astir apt for immoderate clip to come, are going to beryllium asked to o.k. these types of $60-million advisor contracts successful nan absence of having each nan information,” he said.

“Nobody believes that fig of $9.9 billion,”  he added.

“We cognize from nan erstwhile chair, George Harvie, (who) publically stated successful an unfastened gathering that nan costs had already escalated to $12 cardinal and were going up $1 cardinal each six months.”

But Metro Vancouver unit opportunity spending nan money sooner than later will beryllium prudent.

General head of task transportation Cheryl Nelms said each twelvemonth of hold connected nan task increases costs by arsenic overmuch arsenic $300 million.

The location territory has group a target of 2039 to complete nan sewage works upgrades.