Misleading public on LWMP

The new public engagement process is in the news http://www.oakbaynews.com/news/365973471.html and the news and CALWMC directors are misleading the public.

“I think director (Ben) Isitt said it best, there’s still lots in flux.” Lisa Helps

“We’re not at the end. We’re not even at the beginning of the end. We’re making a teeny tiny decision … to go out and have conversation with our public,” said Susan Brice. “I really hoped that after hearing everything and not expecting perfection and knowing it’s fluid … that this would be something that would be quite frankly unanimously supported.”

http://www.oakbaynews.com/news/365973471.html

There are many other similar statements coming from the CALWMC; all false. This public engagement is to prepare for a new LWMP amendment; to be ratified by CRD this Feb 24th; to be approved by the Province by the end of March.

Once approved there is NO WAY for the public to have it changed. The Seaterra Commission is waiting in the wings to take over in March/April and procure the new amendment. Those "in flux", "not at the end" statements are false: once the province approves the plan it is fixed.  Only another round of public engagement can produce a change.  Nothing can guarantee this will happen once Seaterra takes over.

CRD information on gasification is from non-experts

The CRD has said they have hired expertise in gasification.  Where is it?

Back in August 2015 the news was the CRD had just hired expertise in gasification.

https://www.crd.bc.ca/about/news/2015/08/14/calwmc-takes-key-steps-forward-with-wastewater-treatment-planning-process

Urban Systems, partnered with Carollo Associates, has been awarded the contract to conduct the Feasibility and Costing Analysis for the CRD’s Core Area Liquid Waste Management Plan Wastewater Treatment System. ...  Carollo Associates offers specialist advisors in key subject areas appropriate for the scope of work including: gasification, resource recovery, tertiary treatment and facility lifecycle cost estimation.

"Carollo Associates" was a mistake. The company name is "Carollo Engineers"  http://www.carollo.com/

Search the company web site for gasification and you will get no results.

During the Technical Oversight Panel meeting of January 12th, afternoon, there was a review of the cost estimates for gasification. On the phone was Rudi Killian and he was providing the "expertise"

Mr Killian is highly skilled; as is visible from his LinkedIn profile https://www.linkedin.com/in/rudy-kilian-3580008.  To see LinkedIn profiles you might need to be a registered user. So, for the record, here are Mr Killian's top skills

Water Treatment, Wastewater Treatment, Wastewater Process Design, Biosolids Management. Specialties: Biosolids, Project Management, Anaerobic Digestion, Advanced Anaerobic Digestion, Digetion (sic) of Organic Materials

There is nothing about gasification.

Does the CRD have any technical expertise in gasification? Yes but suppressed in the Technical Oversight Panel (TOP). This panel is run as a committee so the lonely gasification vendor/expert is always out voted by the traditional technology experts.  We are only getting what non-experts are telling us.

Bluntly, the technical information about gasification, provided by the CRD, is not based on technical expertise.

Commentary 2 - Congested Pipes and Costs

A free technical commentary on the CRD Core Area Sewage Treatment Project

The CALWMC proposes to submit three new concepts for sewage treatment for further detailed analysis to an independent consultant. A technical oversight panel is to ensure engineering, business case, lifecycle costing and other project analysis is properly conducted by the consultant to enable fair apples-to-apples comparisons to be made as the public has clearly requested.

Read the full Commentary here:

Congested Pipes and Costs

Commentary 1 - Rock Bay Centralized - Pipes and Congested Streets

Do the Little Pieces Matter In the Big Picture?  A free technical commentary on the CRD Core Area Sewage Treatment Project  The CALWMC proposes to submit three new concepts for sewage treatment for further detailed analysis to an independent consultant. A technical oversight panel is to ensure engineering, business case, lifecycle costing and other project analysis is properly conducted by the consultant to enable fair apple-to-apple comparisons to be made as the public has clearly requested.

Read the full commentary here:

Pipes and Congested Streets

CALWMC - May 13th - Agenda

Core Area Liquid Waste Management Committee
Wednesday, May 13, 2015 9:00 AM 6th Floor Boardroom

Link to agenda http://bit.ly/1P80Y9A
The key agenda items are:

Inflow and Infiltration Management Plan Presentation and Sample Model Bylaw for Private Property Sewer Laterals

Terms of Reference and Recruitment - Technical Oversight Panel

Terms of Reference - Independent Engineering and Financial Analysis beyond 2015 (report to be provided prior to May 13)   See our blog posting here

Correspondence from the Mayor of the City of Langford dated April 23, 2015

Seaterra Program and Budget Update No. 22

Westside Wastewater Treatment and Resource Recovery Select Committee Agenda Package for Information

Eastside Wastewater Treatment and Resource Recovery Select Committee Agenda Packages for Information


Correspondence: Business Owners Re Seaterra and CRD Issues
See our blog posting here

Correspondence: Beadle Enterprises, 7 May 2015, Re Wastewater Treatment Issues

Motion for Which Notice Has Been Given: Options for Wastewater Treatment (Director Hamilton)

Notice of Motion: Flow Allocations--That staff report on the accuracy of current flow allocations and bring forward recommendations for adjusting as appropriate. (Director Isitt)

Motion to Close the Meeting

Business Owners Call for Positive Resolution

Letter from business owners to quash Seaterra will be item 6 on Wednesday's CALWMC meeting. Here a link to a copy of the letter including signatures of business owners: http://bit.ly/1JWmRFe

Capital Region District
625 Fisgard Street
Victoria B.C. V8W 1R7
Attention: Lisa Helps, CALWMC Chair
Re: Seaterra and CRD Issues

Dear Chair Helps,

We, the undersigned, are a group of concerned business owners from the Capital Region District. The reason for our concern is both past and recent developments regarding the Seaterra program and CRD staff.

In its relatively short history, the name Seaterra has already become synonymous with the high cost of bypassing meaningful public consultation. The project’s track record of questionable expenditures, ill advised land acquisitions and in camera decisions is already well documented. Thankfully the program was paused last year. However, in the intervening months, both Seaterra management and CRD staff have seemed unable to adapt to the region’s new direction regarding sewage treatment.

As recently as the last Core Area meeting (April 8), directors found out that the Seaterra Commission was still meeting, via conference call, without reporting minutes and that the winning bid on the McLoughlin RFP was being extended without the committee’s input. At this point, it would seem management is either unaware of or unwilling to meet the mandated level of transparency. Regardless of the project’s status, this kind of backroom operating is just simply no longer acceptable.

Far more worrisome is the apparent cross-pollination between the project, the contracted engineering consultant and CRD staff. What has been a brewing problem within the CRD for years has finally boiled over into a palpable distrust. Suspicions that staff and consultants are attempting to steer the process towards a predetermined outcome threaten to undermine both the efforts of the Select Committees and the integrity of the CRD itself. The CALWMC’s refusal to accept a staff report on February 18th serves as a public confirmation of the conflict.

In the six months since the municipal election, itself a de facto referendum on Seaterra, considerable progress has been made in regards to creating an open and accountable process through the Select Committees. However, if a majority of CALWMC directors feel there has been any attempt by CRD staff or project management to interfere with or obfuscate the process currently underway, further action must be taken. It is certainly understandable to want to spare real people the embarrassment that can come with accountability, but any further accommodation would surely risk undoing the gains made by voters on November 15th.

As a group of business owners with a considerable stake in sewage treatment, we’d like to express our support for any democratic means necessary, including a nonconfidence vote, to bring a positive resolution to this situation. With tens of millions in unrecoverable costs, the Seaterra Program has already left an expensive and embarrassing legacy for the region’s taxpayers. We know that the CALWMC is far from
unanimous in its feelings towards the project and the Select Committees. However, we encourage the new chair and the progressive voices within to bring a definitive end to Seaterra and any related dysfunction within the CRD.

Yours Sincerely,
signatures attached

CC: Mayor Nils Jensen, CRD Board Chair
All CALWMC Directors and Alternates

As well a second letter is on the May 13th agenda from another business owner.  To read the full letter find it in the CALWMC agenda or http://bit.ly/1IZfwDg