While there isn’t much visible progress on the Capital Regional District’s wastewater treatment plant at McLoughlin Point, construction on the long talked-about project is on schedule for a 2020 completion.
So says Andy Orr, the CRD’s senior manager of corporate communications.
Nearby residents in Esquimalt have heard the excavation work and controlled blasting since late April, and have encountered approximately 30 trucks per day hauling material from the site. The project is following strict operative noise protocols, Orr said, staying under 35 decibels for properties closest to the zone, which the CRD compares to “nighttime background noise in an urban residential area.”
Site preparation is estimated to finish in August, and concrete pouring and drilling will continue.
“There are no major unforeseen issues yet,” Orr said. With excavation well underway, he added, “McLoughlin is not really accessible [to the public] anymore” along Victoria View Road.
Drilling for the cross-harbour undersea pipe between McLoughlin Point and Ogden Point is also in the works, though the pipe itself will not be assembled and connected until 2018. When completed, the $765-million federal, provincial and CRD-funded sewage treatment plant will provide seven municipalities in Greater Victoria with the region’s first tertiary wastewater treatment system.
Updates on the project’s progress can be found at wastewaterproject.ca.
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