VICTORIA — The regional planning agency responsible for ending the Victoria region’s pumping of raw sewage through two outfalls into the Strait of Juan de Fuca decided Tuesday to build four sewage treatment plans at cost of about $1.2 billion.
But the plants wouldn’t be operating until 2016.
Despite their approval, many members of the Capital Regional District’s sewage committee expressed grave concerns about the direction of the mega-project, saying there remains only vague funding promises from other levels of Canadian government and steep costs may derail future local projects.
The 11-3 vote was the first step toward eventually building the plants, now proposed for Saanich, Esquimalt, Victoria and the west shore.
Currently, two large pipes extend into the deep Strait east and west of the entrance to Victoria Harbour.
The screened effluent is swept to the Pacific by strong underwater currents.
Each day, the international waterway receives 31 million gallons of raw sewage — enough effluent to fill 40,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools in a year.
The Capital Regional District, or CRD, must next decide on exact treatment plant site locations, what to do with the leftover biosolid sludge and how to split the costs among lower Vancouver Island municipalities and individual taxpayers.
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