WESTMOUNT, N.S. — Cape Breton Regional Municipality wastewater manager Matt Viva is well aware that the race to meet tough federal environmental regulations is a marathon and not a sprint.
After all, it’s been five years since former Justice Minister Peter MacKay announced that Ottawa would contribute $19 million toward a $58-million project to construct a new wastewater collection system and treatment facility on the Westmount side of the south arm of Sydney harbour.
Viva was present on June 30, 2015, when MacKay made the announcement on behalf of the Conservative government of the day. Viva was back in Westmount on Tuesday as Sydney-Victoria Liberal MP Jaime Battiste reconfirmed that the federal government will be kicking in one-third of the funding (Nova Scotia and the CBRM are each also picking up one-third of the cost) for the project that is part of an overall initiative to meet strict effluent discharge guidelines established by the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment back in 2012.
“I am absolutely delighted to finally see the work starting,” declared Viva, who is the engineer in charge of the CBRM’s entire wastewater management system and is overseeing an estimated $450 million worth of construction, upgrades and repairs that are required to comply with the federal regulations.
“This project alone is significant in that we are eliminating untreated wastewater that comes from the homes of more than 7,000 residents in Westmount, Coxheath and Sydney River.
“There are three (Westmount-side) outfalls that are currently discharging into the harbour that will be eliminated and we’re constructing one new outfall that will discharge treated effluent in a number of years.”
Of the eight people who put a shovel into the ground during Tuesday’s ceremony, the only one who was not an elected official or municipal employee was former CBRM councillor Claire Detheridge who retired for health reasons in 2016 after than 30 years in public office.
“I am delighted to see this work happening,” said Detheridge, a leading proponent of infrastructure upgrades like the west harbour wastewater upgrades, who showed up for the groundbreaking that took place near an effluent outfall located close to the Dobson Yacht Club.
The other two outfalls still discharging untreated waste in that collection zone are located near Monteith Avenue in Westmount and at the Sydport Industrial Park. The fourth outfall, still to be constructed, will be north of Sydport.
Officially called the Sydney Harbour West Wastewater Collection and Treatment Project, the initiative is expected to create approximately 270,000 hours of employment.
But while applauding the start of the project, Viva reiterated that it is just one part of the overall plan to meet the federal effluent discharge criteria.
“As I have said all along, this is just one piece of the puzzle," said Viva, who noted that the CBRM is responsible for about six per cent of all the untreated raw sewage discharged in Canadian waters.
When laying out the framework for the 2012 effluent clean-up plan, Ottawa set different timelines depending on whether a project is deemed to be low, moderate or high risk.
High-risk projects in the CBRM, which were supposed to be completed by 2020, include the Glace Bay and Port Morien systems, which Viva said will likely run past the Jan. 1, 2021 deadline.
Medium-risk projects such as the Westmount undertaking are to be completed by 2030, while the municipality’s five low-risk initiatives must meet federal criteria by 2040. The largest of those is on the Northside, an area that includes North Sydney, Sydney Mines and Florence. The other systems that still spew raw sewage into the ocean are located in Louisbourg, Donkin, New Waterford and New Victoria.
The CBRM presently has two waste treatment facilities (Sydney’s Battery Point and Dominion/Bridgeport). New treatment plants are slated for Sydport, Glace Bay and Port Morien.
Work on the Westmount project will continue through the seasons until it is completed. It is estimated to take two-and-a-half years.
