Victoria's upper Inner Harbour has large enough chunks of land to house both a sewage-treatment plant and an "energy centre" to make use of the sludge it creates, Victoria Mayor Dean Fortin said yesterday.
He's excited at the thought of housing both at the same site, recommended as the best choice for the region in terms of cost, safety and environmental impact. "It's something Victoria would definitely like to look at," Fortin said. "We can save money, generate electricity and heat and save the planet."
The province has ordered the region to have a sewage-treatment plan to the Ministry of the Environment by the end of the year, with treatment likely in place by 2016.
But just where the plants will be located has been controversial. A recent report to the sewage committee by consultant Stantec said locating the liquid-waste plant with another plant to produce energy from the sludge would reduce costs by about $90 million. Stantec also said selling electricity, heat and fuel created by treating the sludge could generate revenue.
The problem is land. McLoughlin Point in Esquimalt was initially thought to be the best site for sewage treatment, with a separate site for sludge elsewhere, likely on Victoria's upper Inner Harbour.
One or two of the properties identified as potential sludge-treatment sites in Victoria could be large enough to also house the liquid-waste plant, Fortin said, although he wouldn't say which ones. Potential sites include the former Budget Steel operation on Pleasant Street, lands near Rock Bay owned by B.C. Hydro and another site north of Discovery Street and west of Government Street, as well as land used for gravel and cement operations south of Bay Street and west of Bridge Street.
