Chair Denise Blackwell and the Core Area Liquid Waster Management Committee recently agreed that they did not necessarily have the best plan and asked for ideas for any better strategies for the Capital Regional District.
Here’s a great one.
Albert Head, a federally owned property of more than 52 hectares has a “no restriction” land-use designation and would easily hold a secondary sewage treatment plant. Underwater, Albert Head is five to six kilometres from current pumping stations. By altering the direction of the current outflow pipes from south (to the straits) to west to the Albert Head peninsula, the controversial harbour entrance site, with its multiple risk factors, including the massive dig under the water of the harbour entrance, is eliminated.
Also eliminated is the need for 17 km of pressurized piping through parkland, municipal and residential land and infrastructure, to the barely adequate, time-limited Hartland landfill and back.
Albert Head is a wooded, remote acreage that allows room for on-site sludge treatment/disposal and is ideally located for the cleaned water dispersal into the straits.
Engineering would ensure the proper underwater pipe-pressure requirements are fitted, plus earthquake measures and damage prevention are installed.
Plans could allow for the future construction of a sewage treatment plant that would support further growth of the West Shore. The plans could also be designed for future innovation in the science of sewage disposal, whereby pharmaceuticals and heavy metals are removed and benefits to Metchosin are realized, by altering sewage for use as fertilizer in the crop industry in the rural ranch/farm municipality.
I believe this is a viable, cost-effective alternative using federal land effectively.
It would satisfy the many considerable complaints regarding poor land use; expensive, disruptive and massive construction; financial over-runs and future maintenance requirements for what soon could be obsolete sewage disposal practices.
Irene Brett
Esquimalt
