Construction of Centretown’s sewage storage tunnels will go forward with or without provincial and federal funding, said the City of Ottawa’s surface water manager to members of the environmental advisory committee.
The city’s own financing for the project “is in place,” Felice Petti said at the Jan. 12 meeting.
He was responding to concerns that completing the project – intended to prevent major sewage spills from entering the Ottawa River – would be dependent on other levels of funding.
He said in an update on the Ottawa River Action Plan (ORAP) that additional support from other levels of government would only give money back to the city.
Downtown Ottawa’s sewage system currently collects both storm water and sewage waste, which means it’s more prone to overflow under heavy rainfall.
With an underground storage tunnel, overflow into the Ottawa River would be prevented, Petti said.
The city has been seeking funding from the provincial and federal level because the construction of the underground storage tunnel, which is one of 17 projects in ORAP, is such a huge investment, says Ottawa Centre MPP Yasir Naqvi.
“It may not just be sustainable by the municipality,” he says.
The provincial and federal governments helped fund phase one of ORAP, which cost $100 million, he notes.
Naqvi says he hopes they stay on board for the second phase of the project, which includes the underground tunnel.
The city, however, has approved a $251-million budget for ORAP, so even without additional funding, Petti said, the project should go forward.
“We’re still looking at $140 million to $150 million, but until we get to the preliminary designs there’s no reason that should change,” Petti said.
Construction is scheduled to start in 2014 and should be complete by 2016, Petti added.
The project would involve areas at the University of Ottawa, LeBreton Flats, the Supreme Court and Confederation Park.
These construction sites may inconvenience Centretown residents, but Naqvi says this is far outweighed by the environmental benefit and the preservation of the Ottawa River, a national treasure
The “spirit” of ORAP should be people’s focus right now, not the funding, Petti said following the meeting.
Since the plan’s implementation in 2010, there has been a decrease in the number of post-storm spills, all of which must be reported now, and the total amount of sewage waste dumped into the Ottawa River has been cut in half, Petti said.
The decrease is due in part to a new, real-time control system which uses automated regulators to monitor sewage flow.
Another project to improve the Ottawa River’s water quality is the planned introduction of a dechlorination process at the city’s water treatment plant.
With the second treatment, the process will not only protect swimmers but also protect fish living in the river, Petti says.
Such projects are improving Ottawa River water quality, but the underground tunnel for combined sewage overflow is a particularly important step, says Ottawa Riverkeeper executive director Meredith Brown.