Corner Brook city hall working on plan for sewage treatment, otherwise facing fines, penalties, or even jail

Assistant Director of Engineering, Aaron O’Brien says they were notified by Environment and Climate Change Canada saying the city is a high-risk system and non-compliant, meaning no transitional time without a solid plan.

The city of Corner Brook could face some serious fines for putting raw sewage into the ocean. Assistant Director of Engineering, Aaron O’Brien says they were notified by Environment and Climate Change Canada saying the city is a high-risk system and non-compliant, meaning no transitional time without a solid plan. O’Brien says the city could face fines,  penalties and even jail time for elected officials or staff.

The city currently has 11 outfalls in total and O’Brien says they all need to get to the same location which requires infrastructure in the ground from Curling down to Riverside Drive. He says Corner Brook has a lot of hills with the best option being filling in part of the harbour to be able to build a plant. 

O’Brien says back in 2017, a sewage treatment plant would have cost the city $85M and today it would be between $120-$130M. He says the city has an $18M reserve for the project that has been saved from sewer levies but need funding partners to help with something this big. O’Brien says if the city financed this for a 15 year period, it would take 20 percent of the city’s budget just to pay off the debt.

The city did send a letter back to Environment and Climate Change Canada saying they have applied to 6 funding programs in the past and are currently waiting to hear back from one. The federal government has set a goal of having 100% of wastewater treated by the year 2040.