The City of Winnipeg doesn’t expect to meet the 2030 provincial deadline to complete its more than $2.3-billion upgrade of the north end sewage treatment plant, in part because there’s still no plan to pay for most of the tab.
In a report to the province, the city notes it aims to finish the work in 2032, despite facing a provincial deadline of Dec. 31, 2030.
Coun. Brian Mayes, chairman of the water and waste committee, said council has yet to secure any senior government funding to help cover the recent $482-million increase for the project’s second phase and has no plan to pay for the third and final phase.
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The city aims to finish upgrading the north end sewage treatment plant in 2032, despite facing a provincial deadline of Dec. 31, 2030.
“I think there’s an element of fantasy in debating whether you can be done by 2030 or 2032 when you have no money budgeted for a billion-dollar program… Let’s get the money allocated and then come up with the construction time frame,” said Mayes.
The report notes the third phase was expected to cost $828 million in 2018, an estimate now deemed outdated.
Even completing the project by 2032 would be ambitious at this point, said Mayes.
The plant upgrade is Winnipeg’s most expensive infrastructure project. It was designed to increase sewage treatment capacity and greatly reduce the amount of algae-promoting nitrogen and phosphorus that flows out of the plant and eventually enters Lake Winnipeg.
A water and waste spokeswoman said meeting the current deadline would require the city to speed up construction.
“Speeding up is riskier for cost overruns, schedule delays, plant performance issues during the upgrades, resourcing, and co-ordination,” wrote Lisa Marquardson, in an emailed statement.
Marquardson said the city would also wind up paying more for the work.
“When construction schedules are shortened, a premium is paid to complete the work in a shorter time frame than it would typically take,” she noted.
While $18 million has been approved to design Phase 3 of the project, no other senior government funding for it has been secured, which could lead to a substantial increase for Winnipeg water and sewer rates, the report notes.
As a third deadline option, the city says it could update the plant enough to achieve provincial pollution reduction targets for “the majority of flows” by 2030, with full compliance in 2032, but that would also be riskier than simply completing the work in 2032.
Alexis Kanu, the executive director of the Lake Winnipeg Foundation, said she agrees the city lacks funding to get the original upgrade completed as planned by 2030.
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The upgrade is designed to increase sewage treatment capacity and greatly reduce the amount of algae-promoting nitrogen and phosphorus that flows out of the plant and enters Lake Winnipeg.
“I think this provides just more evidence, more weight for the argument for a chemical phosphorus reduction approach… We have a chemical phosphorus reduction system that will be up and running in a month and a biological nutrient-removal system that we can’t afford that’s at least a decade away,” said Kanu.
The city report notes an interim program to remove phosphorous through chemical treatment at the plant will reach substantial completion “in the second quarter of 2024.” The process was designed to cut pollution while the upgrade proceeded.
Kanu said the foundation believes the chemical process should be pursued as a long-term solution instead.
“Treatment plants have effectively used chemical phosphorus reduction to address algal blooms on nearby lakes for decades… The biological nutrient-removal system is too expensive and it’s going to take too long. Meanwhile, our lake is suffering,” said Kanu.
Mayor Scott Gillingham said he’s open to discussing the idea.
“If we can find another way to do the third phase and do something different that meets the goals of saving the lake, reducing the cost and improving the timelines, than we should be having those discussions,” said Gillingham.
In the meantime, the mayor said he understands the rationale behind pushing for a later deadline.
“I’d like to see the city meet the environment licence requirements as soon as possible. However, I do understand this is the largest, most complex infrastructure project that the city has ever undertaken in its 150-year history,” said Gillingham.
When asked if provincial funding will increase for the project, Premier Wab Kinew stressed his government supports the work.
“We are definitely going to get the north end water pollution control centre (upgrade) built… It’s really important for Lake Winnipeg, it’s important for housing to be expanded in the city… We’re just going to have to work together on the very important question of how to pay for it all,” said Kinew.
In an email, a provincial spokesperson said the request to extend the project’s timeline is being reviewed, with officials assessing the environmental impact.
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES
Mayor Scott Gillingham said he understands the rationale behind pushing for a later deadline.
Marquardson noted proceeding with a chemical process instead of a biological one to remove algae-promoting nutrients would introduce new challenges.
“Chemical phosphorus removal creates bulkier, chemical-laden sludge that prevents maximum re-use. It is more expensive than biological treatment due to the cost of chemicals and the larger digestor areas required for the bulkier sludge… Also, chemical phosphorus removal alone will not treat for the other nutrients we need to remove, such as nitrogen and ammonia,” wrote Marquardson.
Meanwhile, the city now expects to complete phase 1 of the treatment plant upgrade by March 31, 2026, instead of May 22, 2025, after the failure of a large interceptor sewage pipe and soil issues delayed the work.
Marquardson said that particular delay isn’t expected to affect future phases of the project.
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Joyanne Pursaga
Reporter
Born and raised in Winnipeg, Joyanne loves to tell the stories of this city, especially when politics is involved. Joyanne became the city hall reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press in early 2020.