News Release - April 13, 2017

Secondary Treatment Upgrade Construction to Begin in May

After more than 10 years of planning, construction of the Secondary Treatment Upgrade at the Greater Nanaimo Pollution Control Centre (GNPCC) will begin this May. The construction contract, totaling $67,990,000, was awarded to NAC Constructors Ltd. during a Special Board Meeting April 11.

The project will provide additional capacity for planned growth and meet provincial and federal regulatory requirements for secondary treatment. The GNPCC currently provides chemically-enhanced primary treatment which uses settling tanks and gravity to treat wastewater. Secondary treatment uses micro-organisms to consume suspended solids in the wastewater as their food supply. Secondary treatment is considered the standard and produces a higher quality effluent than primary treatment.

"This is an exciting moment for everyone involved," said RDN Chairperson Bill Veenhof. "Not only will this upgrade meet provincial and federal requirements, it will provide additional capacity for our growing service area and replace aging infrastructure, prolonging the facility's lifespan."

The project will be paid for through a combination of reserves, development cost charges and borrowing. Construction will begin in May 2017 and continue to December 2019.

Residents are invited to learn more at an open house at the Greater Nanaimo Pollution Control Centre at 4600 Hammond Bay Road (entrance is off McGuffie Rd) on April 19, 2017 from 4:00 to 6:00 pm. A tour tailored to the Secondary Treatment Upgrade Project will be offered at 5:00 pm.

For more information, please visit www.rdn.bc.ca/gnpcc. Go to www.rdn.bc.ca/emailalerts to subscribe and receive progress notifications on this project.

Contact:

Sean De Pol
Manager, Wastewater Services
Regional District of Nanaimo
Phone Number: 250-390-6560
Email address: sdepol [at] rdn.bc.ca (sdepol[at]rdn[dot]bc[dot]ca)