INNOVATION March-April 2018

L E T T E R S

Letters to the editor containing your views on topics of interest are encouraged. Opinions expressed in letters are not necessarily endorsed by Engineers and Geoscientists BC. Letters should be 300 words or less and can be emailed to innovation@egbc.ca. Find more information at egbc.ca/Submitting-to-Innovation.

SHORT-TERM THINKING? As engineers and geoscientists, we need to voice our concerns about short-term thinking to maintain our respected position in society. Many point-source impacts on the environment have been mitigated. However, this won’t be the case with the new Lions Gate Wastewater Treatment Plant in North Vancouver. The plant will flush secondarily treated effluent into the ocean twice a day, while tertiary treatment is now used by most new plants. Even Victoria, the wastewater villain of the past, is building its new plant with tertiary treatment. Metro Vancouver identified three options for updating the Lions Gate plant. Scenarios

difficulty, there may be reductions to the intended flexibility. Not having details of the specific flexibility made public makes it difficult for concerned parties to ensure it is maintained. New standards are being considered that may make secondary treatment obsolete in Canada; therefore, project flexibility is particularly important. The use of outfalls to dilute wastewater will eventually come to an end, and meanwhile the planning for a new estuary is being delayed. Metro is doubling down on short-term thinking, when we need long-term thinking to address the cumulative effects of human activity on the environment. — Glen Parker, P.Eng. North Vancouver

A and B specified sending secondarily treated effluent to the existing outfall for dilution. Scenario C provided for tertiary- treated wastewater with the potential to be discharged at the foot of Pemberton or Philip avenues, creating needed estuary and associated habitat. Engagement with Metro and local mayors by a group of people including myself was met with the response that there was not enough public support for tertiary treatment to justify the 21 percent premium. The assertion was also made that the chosen process (Scenario B) was flexible enough to address new regulations. A design-build contract has been awarded but if the project budget or schedule are in

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