With the preferred location expected to be selected this winter, the man behind the idea to build a wastewater treatment plant in south Niagara Falls is eager to see the plan become reality.
The estimated $130-million project – which would be the most expensive piece of infrastructure Niagara Region has ever built – is currently going through an environmental assessment and public consultation phase.
A second information session will take place in mid to late-November (a date, place and time is still to be worked out). It will follow a gathering held in May at the Boys and Girls Club on McLeod Road.
A third meeting is expected some time in February, where officials are anticipated to present the preferred site.
The idea for a wastewater treatment plant in the growing south end of the municipality goes back to 2016.
That’s when a motion brought forward by Niagara Falls city Coun. Victor Pietrangelo called on the municipality to begin planning for such a facility.
The motion was intended to explore the advantages such a facility would create when it comes to challenges, such as basement flooding in the area and future opportunities, such as south-end growth.
Pietrangelo said at the time, Niagara Region was doing three master plans dealing with “how we grow, how we go and how we flow.”
He said the “how we flow” aspect was to establish a plan for how Niagara Region would deal with future water and wastewater infrastructure, which was shared with municipal councils.
“At the time, I asked that they include in their terms of reference a south-end sewage treatment plant in Niagara Falls,” said Pietrangelo, adding he connected with a consultant to talk about potential benefits.
There is significant residential growth planned for Niagara in the coming decades. Sixty-four per cent of it is expected in the south Niagara Falls area.
The plant is expected to improve the efficiency of the system in the south end of the city, which currently pumps wastewater uphill to the other side of Lundy’s Lane where gravity takes over on the way to the Stanley Avenue wastewater treatment facility.
Other goals of the project are to enhance environmental protection through technology and system improvements while creating new jobs and infrastructure to support investment in the region.
Pietrangelo said he’s glad to see the project make its way through the planning process.
Niagara Region project manager Lisa Vespi said officials have made significant progress through environmental field studies and technical supporting information, which are nearly complete.
She said the November and February public information sessions will ensure residents have enough opportunity to comment on the project.
“We’re going to be presenting opportunities and constraints in the study area for various sites and alternatives.”
Vespi said officials plan to present the preliminary preferred site during a February session – a date, time and place also yet to be determined.
She said with a project of this magnitude, a lot goes into studying which sites could work.
Officials are looking at five “key pillars,” including financial, technical, environmental, social economic and legal jurisdictional.
“We’re looking at existing and future land use, we’re looking at surrounding land use, closeness to water bodies,” said Vespi. “We’ve got a targeted area right around that Welland River, (Ontario Power Generation) hydro canal, as well as the Chippawa Creek.”
Mayor Jim Diodati said the plant is a necessary element to the growth of not just Niagara Falls, but also Fort Erie and Thorold.
“Right now, we’re pushing waste against gravity, uphill,” he said.
“(A new plant is) going to make a lot more sense for any future expansion and also to take pressure off of our treatment plant on Stanley Avenue, which needs some retrofitting.”
Raymond.Spiteri@niagaradailies.com
905-225-1645 | @RaySpiteri
