The North Shore Wastewater treatment plant is an estimated $3 billion over budget. Metro Vancouver has blamed contractor Acciona, which it fired.
Now, amid ongoing litigation, Acciona has sent a pointed letter to Metro Vancouver’s Board Chair Mike Hurley and its directors.
Acciona says, in part, “We are concerned that your fellow councillors, the media, and the public may continue to be misled on a number of important issues.”
“We offered to implement alternative measures to complete the project in 2025 at a cost of $1.05 billion. This was declined,” the company claims.
“Most of the more than 1,000 modifications to the original project and other challenges … were not caused by Acciona,” it adds.
Municipal Affairs Minister Ravi Kahlon responded to the letter on Wednesday.
“Seeing that in a letter is always a concern,” he said.
“I think the public wants information made public, but they want it done in a very transparent way.”
In July, Metro Vancouver chief administrative officer Jerry Dobrovolny told Global News the contractor “didn’t deliver.”
“Our contractor continued to come back asking for more money,” he said.
Kahlon says he’ll be meeting with Metro Vancouver later this week. Metro Vancouver’s next board meeting is on Friday.