The Chilliwack
Progress Tuesday
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FVRD threatens legal action over incinerator
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Jeff Nagel Black Press A closed-containment coho salmon farm on land. Heat flowing to an existing pulp mill. And a pharmaceutical algae farm to soak up captured carbon dioxide. That’s all part of Aquilini Renewable Energy’s vision for “eco-industrial” uses that would be paired with a garbage incinerator it wants to build for Metro Vancouver on Squamish Nation land at Port Mellon, across Howe Sound. Aquilini’s is one of four prospective waste-to-energy plant sites unveiled Thursday that Metro will consider further. The only other site not previously made public is one in south Vancouver at the foot of Heather Street, near the Oak Street Bridge. The Vancouver site has been advanced by Plenary Group even though Coun. Andrea Reimer noted the City of Vancouver has banned mass-burn incineration within its city limits. The other two sites – previously reported by Black Press – are one at Duke Point near Nanaimo, where proponent Wheelabrator/ Urbaser would barge waste across the Strait of Georgia, and Delta’s Lehigh Cement plant, which proposes to burn garbage that it would first dry and process into refusederived fuel. Several of the nine bidding firms already short-listed by the regional district appeared before Metro’s zero waste committee Thursday morning to outline their proposals. Representatives from the Fraser Valley Regional District were not impressed. Chilliwack Mayor Sharon Gaetz, who chairs the FVRD, said Friday the district would consider legal action if Metro Vancouver moves forward. Continued: METRO/ p8
Charlie Mulholland kicks an old soccer ball for his dog and others at the off-leash dog park by the Rotary Vedder River Trail on Monday afternoon. JENNA HAUCK/ PROGRESS
City pegs spring for chlorination completion Jennifer Feinberg The Progress There’s still some upgrading left to do on Chilliwack’s new $900,000 full-time chlorination system to increase storage capacity. But the changeover to a permanent water disinfection system is well underway and is expected to be completed by April or May of 2014, say city officials. It’s been challenging to run a temporary system on a full-time basis. The existing system did not have the bulk storage capacity for chlorine, which meant it was onerous to keep the drinking water wells disinfected on a continual
basis. Once the upgrade is complete next year, it will be 90 per cent less labour intensive, since operators won’t be required to keep the wells treated with small amounts of chlorine to keep it running 24/7. Crews have been physically and laboriously disinfecting drinking water wells around the clock since Fraser Health used its statutory powers forcibly impose the order last March, due to several e.coli readings. “Lately I’ve been getting more calls from people about chlorination,” noted Mayor Sharon Gaetz. Some wanted to know what they could do to mitigate the strong
taste of chlorine, and she’s still telling them to try leaving the water in a container overnight in the fridge, or going the filtration route. “At this point we’re just looking forward to having the whole system upgrade completed.” The good news for users is the system upgrade won’t increase water user rates. Water users share costs through a water fund, according to staff. Since the upgrade was covered by existing capital reserve funds, it means that there will be no wateruser rate increases to pay for capital construction costs of the new system. Many of the existing water
system components are being incorporated into the full-time system, so the upgrades are mainly focused on increasing the capacity and automation to handle bulk quantities of sodium hypochlorite. Initial estimates were for up to $1.5 million to switch from Chilliwack’s temporary, emergency chlorination system to a fulltime disinfection system with more storage capacity. But the new system designed by a city consultant ended up with the lower cost of $900,000. jfeinberg@theprogress.com Twitter.com/chwkjourno
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