Colchester County facility treating stormwater from Northern Pulp

Deal is compliant with environmental limits and undergoes rigorous testing: Mayor

LOWER TRURO - Wastewater from Northern Pulp’s decommissioned effluent treatment plant in Abercrombie that is being shipped to Colchester County complies with municipal and environmental policies, says the county’s mayor.

Unable to treat its material onsite, Northern Pulp entered into a deal with the Municipality of Colchester in July of 2020. First set for four months, the arrangement was extended last March with permission from council until Dec. 31, 2021.

Water from the Central Colchester Wastewater Treatment facility, located in Lower Truro, runs into the Bay of Fundy. It treats municipal wastewater from Truro and the surrounding areas as well as leachate from Kemptown and is one of the few facilities in the province equipped to handle the storm water from the mothballed Abercrombie holding site.

Since the beginning of the current fiscal year, Northern Pulp has contributed about 0.5 per cent of the total flow. Under the agreement, the company is permitted to contribute up to 1.3 per cent at most, or about 180 cubic metres per day, said Mayor Christine Blair.

Within the agreement, weekly, monthly and quarterly testing data comparing the wastewater composition to the parameters of the facility and the sewer bylaw are executed and reviewed. This includes:

- Weekly results of COD, volume, pH and suspended solids from an independent tester;

-Daily in-house sample analysis of COD, pH, suspended solids and ammonia by the Municipality of Colchester;

- Daily internal testing for (chemical oxygen demand) COD from Northern Pulp, provided to Colchester;

- Monthly, full-set tests, for parameters outline in Colchester’s sewer use policy, by an independent tester;

- Quarterly tests for hydrocarbons by an independent tester.

“We've seen no negative impact and Northern Pulp has been extremely co-operative,” said Blair. “They have worked very well with our staff on this issue.”

Although there are bylaws that allow the director of Public Works to deal with these requests without council approval, Blair said, the decision was made to bring the issue to council.

“I remember the discussions. And I remember there were a lot of questions. As long as they're in compliance - and we do have our obligations under the regulations for environment and so on, that we have to be very, very careful on our wastewater facility and where we are. So, we're very mindful of all of those things.”

As is the practice with such negotiations, the matters were discussed in closed sessions at council meetings.

An exceedance of the COD limit in the county’s sewer use bylaw is permitted through a clause in the approval to haul wastewater.

It stipulates a surcharge fee and is only allowed in situations where they feel they can treat incoming wastewater without impacting the quality of treated wastewater.

None of the limits for the plant set by Nova Scotia Environment have been modified.

Deliveries usually occur during the regular work week. Blair said they may see up to 150 cubic metres during wet months such as March and April, and around 30 cubic metres during dry months like August.

Consistent with the council’s fee policy, Northern Pulp pays $30 per cubic metre of wastewater delivered.

To date, the total expenses for Northern Pulp with HST are $923,463, which results in revenues of $803,011 (for 2020 and so far this year) for the municipality.

"While these are funds were unexpected, receiving them under our approval system as previously explained, assists Colchester in its regular maintenance and upgrades of our wastewater facility, thus giving some relief to taxpayers’ dollars in our budget," said Blair, in a follow-up email.

The contentious Boat Harbour effluent treatment plant was shut down by Stephen MacNeil’s government in January of 2020. Two plans submitted in December 2019 that would have seen water dumped into the Northumberland Strait were rejected.

Northern Pulp has a transformation plan in place in hopes of reopening with a reduced environmental footprint.

It is reportedly considering developing its own means to treat the water onsite.