Defunct sewage plant days away from normal operation
Posted May 26, 2010 05:56:02 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The sewage treatment plant that failed in January 2009 could be days away from coming back online.
Mayor Peter Kelly says the Halifax plant could be screening and treating raw sewage again late this week or early next.
“They are doing testing with potable water and from there, if all goes well, hopefully we’ll be able to move it further and start to treat the full effluent,” he said.
The $333 million plant failed during a power outage and a combination of problems led to it being flooded with raw sewage.
Kelly says insurance will cover about $11 million in repairs, but there may be other costs that will fall to taxpayers, though he wouldn’t say how much the city may have to pay.
“It’s premature to speculate on any of those elements,” he said. “The insurance company has been very cooperative, and have been working very well, and we expect that to continue. The main point here is to get the plants back to full operation, and things are going well in that direction.”
Kelly says there have been several modifications made to the plant in order to avoid another breakdown.
