Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island has announced a three-phase plan to separate the remaining portion of its Spring Park Combined Storm and Sanitary Sewer System. When the project is complete in 2014, sanitary sewage will no longer enter Charlottetown Harbour from the city’s sanitary sewer system.
The total cost of the project is estimated at $18.8 million and the first phase will commence with a call for design engineering services and project management. Construction is projected to begin in May.
At approximately $5.6 million, Phase I will address and prepare the new sanitary sewer system for the subsequent phases, and will divert sanitary sewer to the wastewater treatment plant, thereby removing it from the combined system and greatly reducing the impact on the harbour. The completion of this phase of the planned work, combined with the completed work at UPEI undertaken in 2011, will address approximately 57 per cent of combined flow and divert it directly to the wastewater treatment plant.
Phase II, estimated at $3.3 million, will address separation work in the north west section of the combined system which will mostly impact the west side of Spring Park Rd. The completion of this phase, in addition to the previously completed separation work, will address approximately 70 per cent of the combined flow and divert it directly to the wastewater treatment plant.
Phase III will address the necessary separation work in the north east section of the combined system which will mostly impact the eastern side of Spring Park Rd to Mount Edward Rd. The completion of this phase will have addressed 100 per cent of the combined flow and divert it directly to the wastewater treatment plant. The total estimated cost for this phase is $9.8 million.
The Province will provide one-third of the cost of the project, while the City of Charlottetown will fund its share from an increase in sewer rates of $30 per year and a transfer of $1 million in Federal Gas Tax funds for each year of the project. For Phase III, the City hopes to add the support of a federal infrastructure program.
The City has met on several occasions and has listened to the concerns about the viability of the Charlottetown Harbour raised by the three major organizations: the PEI Shellfish Association, the PEI Aquaculture Alliance, and the PEI Fisherman’s Association. The City’s Sustainability Plan and its overall responsibility for environmental stewardship has helped guide the City as it moves forward with this project.
