Ministry of Environment issues deadline for Blyth sewage fix

BY SCOTT STEPHENSON

It’s been over six months since a mechanical failure put the Blyth Sewage Treatment Plant (BSTP) into secondary bypass, but a possible short-term solution was brought forth at North Huron’s Jan. 13 meeting for council’s consideration. A report prepared by Director of Public Works Dax McAllister suggested that the township rent temporary sand filters from the same company that monitors its water and wastewater: Veolia Water Technologies. 

 

The report draws attention to the fact that something must be done about the lack of a functioning wastewater filter system. A recent non-conformance letter issued to the township by the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) indicates that a Temporary Effluent Filtration System (TEFS) must be installed and operational by no later than April 15. Additionally, North Huron must send MOE a monthly report that illustrates progress is being made towards installing some sort of system. The first of these reports is due on Jan. 31. 

 

According to the report, Veolia is proposing that North Huron rent one of their Mobile Disc Filter (MODF) Trailers to meet the needs of the BSTP. To ensure that the rental MODF would be operational by Apr. 15, it would need to be in place by March. 
While no members of council disputed the importance of having a functioning sewage treatment facility, several councillors had questions regarding the high costs associated with this stop-gap solution. In the report, staff is seeking pre-budget approval for $400,000. 

 

McAllister also includes a breakdown of the proposed rental agreement with Veolia Mobile Services. There is an initial start-up cost of $57,500, as well as a monthly charge of $40,000, for a minimum of six months. This price does not include travel time, chemicals, field specialist and HST. 

 

Deputy-Reeve Kevin Falconer had a question for McAllister about potentially pursuing a more permanent solution to the problem. “I’m just curious - do we have any idea how much the replacement of that unit would have been?” he asked. McAllister responded that he wasn’t quite sure. “Off the top of my head - no. But you're probably looking into the millions, at least $2 to $3 million to replace the original unit,” he guessed. 

 

Falconer also wanted to know if McAllister had any idea for how long the sand filters would need to be rented. “Currently, we don't have anything on the books to replace the unit that we're putting the temporary sand filters in for. So how many years do we figure we'll be renting that piece of equipment for?” he queried. 

 

McAllister informed council that the township has, in fact, retained the services of an engineering firm that plans to tender designs for an upgraded BSTP by 2026. “That’s what the talk is right now,” he said. “But I would need to get more information from them if that is desired from council.”

 

Councillor Mitch Wright suggested that the township act with some urgency to decrease the time spent waiting on design work. “I don't know who we engaged from an engineering perspective, whether it was BM Ross or Burnside or whoever, but we should be paying overtime for them to get this design done as fast as possible because we're looking at $40,000, $50,000 or $60,000-plus a month… we should really be focusing on expediting this design process because we're going to be bleeding a lot of money here until we get these sand filters replaced,” he pointed out. 

 

Council voted to approve staff’s request for $400,000 to rent the temporary filters after amending the motion to reflect that extra effort in expediting the design work be undertaken as a cost-saving measure.