North Shore wastewater plant gets funding
Plant to be constructed by 2020 designed to allow future upgrades, expansion
Metro Vancouver announced Saturday it has received funding for a new $700-million wastewater treatment plant on the North Shore.
The new Lions Gate Secondary Wastewater Treatment Plant will be constructed by 2020 on a 3.5-hectare site owned by Metro in the District of North Vancouver, while the plant currently operating under the Lions Gate Bridge on Squamish Nation lands, built in 1961, will be decommissioned in 2021.
The aim is to make for cleaner waterways by providing enhanced secondary wastewater treatment, compared to the existing primary treatment. The plant is designed to allow flexibility for any future upgrades or expansion, according to Metro.
Metro chair Greg Moore said the plant has been a top priority and will provide “robust secondary treatment in a very environmentally sensitive way.”
It will serve 200,000 residents in the districts of West and North Vancouver, the City of North Vancouver and Squamish and TsleilWatuth nations.
The project received close to 58 per cent of its funding from the federal and provincial governments, Moore said.
Jonathan Wilkinson, MP for North Vancouver, said the federal government will provide $212.3 million while provincial Community Minister Peter Fassbender said the province will provide $193 million.
Fassbender said the plant is among projects that will “ensure that the pristine waters that we enjoy remain that way because of our commitment to enhancing our environmental footprint, and ensuring that anything that goes into the water is at a level of environmental friendliness that it needs to be for the protection of all of us.”