Three years ago when a new Town Council stepped up to fill the void that was left by two years of trusteeship, only an outstanding court order to build a facility was staring us in the face. There was no ready solution. Only the threat of punishing fines levied by the court.

Since that time much has transpired. The Territorial Government knocked themselves out to find a viable remedy for our secondary treatment woes. During a long and arduous journey the Territory included the Town in as much of the process as was possible.

We now have a signed contract with Corix who will oversee all the stages of a complex project. I believe the result will be a state of the art facility held up as an example to other municipalities.

It is not lost on me that our town is the recipient of a system that municipalities many times our size would not be able to afford from a capital cost point of view.

Despite the hysterical and unfounded claims made by Mayor Jenkins, the operation and maintenance of the plant will be affordable. In fact, other related capital projects are being entertained that will translate into even lower O&M.

Myself and council fought hard to ensure that Dawson has some extra ‘padding’ or protection within the memorandum of agreement with YTG in the unlikely event that operation and maintenance costs go completely sideways.

Not to blow my own horn, but I do think this is a major milestone in modern Dawson history. I sincerely hope I am still in office for the ribbon cutting ceremony.

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Yesterday afternoon (Aug. 13/09) we appeared in court at the old Administration Building before Judge Lilles to provide court with an update on our progress.

The courtroom itself dates back from the early 1900′s and has the ambiance of the court used in the Gregory Peck movie To Kill a Mockingbird. The only thing missing are the ceiling fans rotating slowly over a gallery of overheated spectators.

Of course our submission to court was all good news. Namely that a contract has been signed for 25M with Corix who will co-ordinate the job of designing and building a deep shaft treatment plant. This plant will function much like an aerated lagoon except that the ‘cells’ will be vertical steel shafts 300 feet into the bedrock. It is a proprietary technology called Vertreat. More can be learned at this website; dawsonwastewater.ca

Crown Counsel on behalf of Environment Canada expressed cautious oprtimism regarding the plan, pointing out that it still remains just a plan and would happier if there were a contingency plan in place. In other words, a parallel lagoon option should be pursued.

A stern warning was issued by the Crown that criminal liability still lurks in the background should all attempts to satisfy the court order fail. A cloaked way of saying that perhaps prison awaits the mayor if it is shown that the city is acting contrarily and flaunting the order. As long as I can bring my yoga mat and a few books it might serve as a welcome break ;–) as long as Bubba isn’t my bunk-mate.

Judge Lilles then went to the site for a ‘view’ along with everyone else. Stephen Johnson, on behalf of Corix then explained the test drilling operation that’s being undertaken at the moment.

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And what a slog it has been! Some will remember the years of work and planning that went into developing a state of the art aerated lagoon outside of town. Personally I thought this was the perfect technology for Dawson, unfortunately it was rejected by some political forces beyond our sphere of influence and we were compelled to return to the drawing board. It’s a good thing there’s an endless supply of taxpayer’s money flowing to our little town (tongue planted firmly in cheek!).

I have no doubt that this deep shaft technology will work for us. A big concern is that is sustainable for the rate payer. The operation and maintenance of this facility will hopefully stay within the projected estimates and perhaps other capital expenditures can be justified down the road with the intent of beating back the O&M. We also have to dissect the existing ledger for the day to day costs of distributing water and sewer to all the connections in our municipality with an eye to perhaps lowering rates in general.

Be glad that after almost thirty years dawson will finally have a facility for cleaning our wastewater!

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The following was submitted to the Yukon News by our project team leader and thus far has not been printed in the letters to the editor section. It is a rebuttal to the opinions expressed regarding the procurement process.

In the spirit of healthy debate all views should be considered.

 
Dawson Wastewater Treatment

Principle Questions arising from Yukon News Story – April 24^th, 2009

I’d like to take the opportunity to address some of the errors in the April 24^th article concerning a proposed technology for Dawson City’s wastewater treatment facility.  It is not my intention to advocate for any particular wastewater treatment process or technology, but it is my responsibility to ensure your readers are not left with the mistaken impression that the citizens of Dawson will be presented with an unsuitable or inappropriate solution to their wastewater needs. 

Given the high cost of wastewater treatment, a detailed technical analysis of each bid package received for this project was undertaken by a team of experts in engineering, financial analysis and wastewater treatment. Team members individually and collectively evaluated the merits of each submission based on the materials provided. As a result of this evaluation process, only one bidder qualified for the next step of the review process where the bid price was revealed. 

Correctly noted in the article is the wastewater treatment technology included as part of the winning bid package is provided by Noram.  Unfortunately, the article then inaccurately reported on technology and financial issues. I hope to clarify and communicate these inaccuracies.

Contrary to comments provided by the Yukon News, several “deep shaft” wastewater treatment systems are in operation in Canada and other countries. One of the reasons the winning bid was selected was because the technology they  provided has been tested in cold regions and also in municipalities with larger and smaller populations than Dawson City.

The Yukon News article suggests that Manitoba has “…sworn off deep-shaft sewage treatment plants, similar to the one Dawson City plans to build.” It would come to no surprise to sewage experts that the Virden system, built in the late 1970s, would be quite different from a system built 30 years later since technology in the field has vastly improved.

The article quotes Virden’s manager of works and utilities on some technical measures of wastewater purity such as fecal chloroform and suspended solids. One quote reads: “the total fecal chloroform (sic) count should be around 30…Virden’s is at 9,000…”. It is our assumption that the reference is to fecal coliform and in this area, the public should be informed that the current regulatory limits are 20,000 MPN/100 millilitres (MPN refers to “most probable number”).

In addition, the numbers quoted suggesting the Manitoba facility is operating below Canadian wastewater treatment standards appear to be in error, or are at least using some unknown unit of measure. The quote “total suspended solids is even worse…the average is 40 to 60, we’re at 110,000” is difficult to interpret.  Dawson City’s current effluent, which receives only primary screening treatment, averages about 20 mg/L of total suspended solids (TSS), and peaks at about 36 mg/L in the summer. It is difficult to conceive of a system that would increase TSS. Any facility constructed in Dawson will meet the new TSS requirements established by the Canadian Council of the Ministers of the Environment, which is 25 mg/L.  

The article quotes Homer, Alaska officials who state: “It works very well” and “It meets our fecal and total suspended solids (standards) easily.” The deep shaft wastewater treatment system in Homer was quoted as costing the municipality $524 thousand last year. As the municipality of Homer does not separate its drinking water treatment system from its wastewater system, I am uncertain as to how this number was arrived at. Secondly, the Homer system operates with seven lift stations while the proposed Dawson City facility will operate with four. Various other differences, including a smaller population base and wastewater flow suggest that costs are not as comparable as may be inferred from the article.

The project team includes staff from Dawson City and the Yukon Government and has kept an open mind in assessing potential mechanical and lagoon solutions for Dawson. Our objective is to ensure a sustainable and appropriate solution for Dawson is put in place as quickly as possible and we’re confident both Yukon and Dawson taxpayers will be satisfied with the outcome.  

The team has not yet entered into negotiations with any proponent for the construction of a treatment facility and will provide further information concerning project progress at additional public meetings in Dawson in mid-May. 

Updated information can always be found on the project website:   http://www.dawsonwastewater.ca and http://www.cityofdawson.ca

 Thank you for the opportunity to clarify these issues.

Catherine Harwood, P.Eng. (Project Manager)

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As some of us know, the ongoing saga of secondary treatment in Dawson remains unresolved. But we shouldn’t loose hope, because during Dawson’s court hearing presided over by Justice Lilles last Thursday, everyone gave their thumbs up on progress to date. Even counsel for environment Canada was uncharacteristically restrained and less acerbic than usual while listing all of Dawson’s shortcomings in relation to fulfilling the court order.

The project team comprised of some YTG and Dawson staff members have done an amazing job of bringing forward what appears to be a viable solution to our treatment requirements.

All will be revealed by the end of May of this year (hopefully). So, stay tuned!

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The good news is that in everyone’s mailbox this week is a joint press release from YTG and Dawson outlining our intentions for a solution to secondary treatment. The Yukon government will be issuing a request for proposals for a mechanical treatment system that fits certain requirements, chief among them being sustainability and reasonable operation and maintenance costs. We will also be continuing a review of three lagoon sites; the South Bench, Dome Road Bench and Callison.

I know that some have been anxious to end the post referendum doldrums and get on with a new plan. I’m glad to say that there is light at the end of the 25 year tunnel.

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Dawson is named in the court order, yet there appear to be many chefs stirring the same broth. This makes it difficult to arrive at a sustainable solution to the challenge before us. But it will be done, as I said in court today Dawson is committed to finding a way to remedy the problem.

Judge lilles expressed concern that another referendum could scuttle a new project in the future prompting direction from his honour to develop more fully the mechanical plant (SBR) option. Of course, citizens may raise objection to that as well. Which makes one wonder whether it’s such a good idea to allow referendums to influence matters before the court.

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The Judge and counsel for both sides will attend via teleconference in the Territorial Courtroom. This is a valuable opportunity for everyone who voted in the referendum to continue to express their involvement and concern for this issue by being present at this hearing on Tuesday May 6 at 1:00 pm.

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There will be a concerted effort to collectively find a solution to this problem working with all levels of government and the courts.

And now, on to better and greater things!

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Consequently, as of now the City has no memorandum of agreement with the Territorial Government for the 17 million dollar project and we have increased our exposure to new charges from Environment Canada that could result in fines in the hundreds of thousands of dollars if not more.

Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in thinks that a new project will now advance to their preferred site. I wish them luck.

Congratulations to Rick Riemer who has won the by-election for councilor. And congratulations to Steve Johnson who also ran.

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