Scott Stanfield
scott.stanfield@comoxvalleyrecord.com
In a series of articles, Record reporter Scott Stanfield delves into the contentious sewage issue.
To meet the needs of a growing community, the Comox Valley Regional District says another sewage pump station is needed to supplement the Courtenay pump station and the Jane Place station in Comox.
According to the CVRD, the Comox No. 2 Pump Station is a priority due to environmental risks related to exposure of a sewage pipeline along the Willemar Bluff near Goose Spit. But those living near the proposed site on Beech Street in Area B are concerned about the potential for aquifer damage and sewage spills, and the noise that will accompany a long construction period.
Some residents feel the CVRD is being short-sighted, and ignoring the wishes of the neighbourhood. For one thing, they claim they don’t need or want sewer or water services.
“It’s a Band-Aid solution,” said Stafford Street resident Paul Horgen, who has spent thousands for sewer treatment, and for drilling a deep well and aquifer. “We don’t ever have to boil water here, so why would we want city water here?”
The Comox 2 budget is $10,700,500. Construction of the facility is expected to take nearly two years.
“It’s 1982 all over again,” said Young Street resident Dr. Don Blacklock, recalling a Valley-wide protest about the placement of pump stations and sewage pipes from Courtenay to Curtis Road, where a sewage treatment centre now sits. “It was ignored then. This short-sightedness by the engineering department is self-serving. They want to do the easiest thing now.”
In the early-’80s, pipes and pumps were slated to go inland from Courtenay to the Curtis Road station, but Blacklock said the plan changed to run pipes along the estuary and the base of the Willemar Bluff because it was deemed to be cheaper in the short-term.
This, he said, resulted in an environmental protest group trying to change the CVRD’s mind. The group was led by several notable ladies — including Melda Buchanan, Catherine Capes, Phyllis Capes and Ruth Masters — whom he said were “stonewalled” by the powers to be.
David Battle, who lives on Isabel Road about 400 feet upwind from the proposed site, feels the CVRD needs to consider a broader, regional program that would include Cumberland and the southern reaches of the Valley.
“The centre of that whole hub is Courtenay, and that Courtenay pump station,” he said.
Horgen advocates moving pipes out of the estuary, and moving sewage infrastructure overland to an industrial area by the Courtenay pump station — which the district plans to upgrade and eventually rebuild. But the district says a rebuild will not negate the need to build Comox 2.
“One of our principles as pragmatic engineers, and being local government staff, is to make cost-effective decisions and what that means with infrastructure,” said Kris La Rose, senior manager of water and wastewater services. “One of the things it means is not throwing away infrastructure that has significant lifespan remaining on it. The Comox 2 is founded on maximizing the remaining lifespan of the existing foreshore forcemain, and the Courtenay pump station.”
The plan is to upgrade pumps shortly after Comox 2 is installed. In 12 or 15 years, La Rose said the Courtenay pump station would likely undergo a more significant rebuild.
“They’re (residents) suggesting it would be cheaper to build a new Courtenay pump station and a new forcemain from there directly to the plant, (which) means abandoning the forcemain along the foreshore, and accelerating the replacement of the Courtenay pump station by 12 to 15 years. Those two pieces of infrastructure have a lifespan of 60 to 80 years.”
Accelerating their replacement by 15 years equals about 20-25 per cent of the lifespan.
“We’re looking at a $7 million cost, or essentially throwing away $7 million worth of infrastructure,” La Rose said. “That’s not our starting position.”
But Blacklock — noting towns such as Campbell River are removing foreshore pipes — feels the Valley is in danger of having its foreshore ruined.
“Have we learned nothing in the past 35 years?” Blacklock said. “Of course, all the people deciding this will be long since retired when all this happens, and the problem will be once again dropped in the laps of our children and grandchildren — not a great legacy for one of the country’s so-called most livable towns.”
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In Part 2, next week, residents feel they are being ignored, with no representation on commission.
