The site selected for settlement ponds to treat waste from the community’s future water treatment plant doesn’t sit well with neighbours.
Holly Avenue resident Alf Bryan recently raised some dust with municipal council over plans to ruse adjacent district property for residual ponds that would treat solid waste (silt) filtered from the water treatment plant expected to be operational in 2016.
Bryan said that when he bought his home in 1992, he was shown municipal documents showing the neighbouring district property designated as park land. Since then, he continued, the lot has been dug up, trees torn out and used as a staging area during sewer projects. He said it was also used by a housesboat company as a raw sewage transfer station. As a result, Bryan and his neighbours had to put up with flying dust, muddy roads and stink. Now they’re concerned that Oak Street will be extended on the property to service the settlement ponds, and Bryan questioned if this will mean more mud and dust.
“We can’t drink it in the water – are we supposed to breathe it in the air if it’s going to be dry?” asked Bryan. “Where does the water go, and where will the silt go, and why can’t it be on the highway end instead of right across the street from me… why can’t it be next to the highway? It’s further away. And is there any hope of getting a windbreak there?”
According to a question and answer sheet posted on the district’s website, the Holly side was chosen for its proximity to the planned water treatment facility on Dabell, and the closes sanitary lift station which receives the backwash water after filtration.
District administrator Heidi Frank told Bryan, however, that where the proposed pond will go is still up in the air.
“That hasn’t been explored yet, on what area of the property. And we are absolutely looking at highway access… We are actually in discussions and trying to see what we can do with that,” said Frank, noting a windbreak is part of all the options being considered. “It’s in such a preliminary stage and I completely understand what you’re saying and everything and I’m very aware of the property… The engineers and architects, as we speak, are looking at options as to how to lay it out on the property.”
Additional information about the treatment ponds and their function can be found at http://sicamous.civicwebcms.com/content/water-treatment-qa.