Construction is once again set to ramp up on Metro Vancouver’s notoriously beleaguered North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Major construction on the sewage facility has been stalled since the regional district fired the former primary contractor amid a dispute over progress and costs.
It subsequently emerged that the project would cost billions more to complete than originally projected. When the plant was announced in 2011, it was budgeted at $700 million with a 2020 completion date. That’s now ballooned to $3.86 billion with a 2030 completion date.
On Wednesday, Metro Vancouver announced a deal with new contractor PCL Construction is in place.
“We’re very confident it will be delivered for what we have now budgeted and we believe that we have the right team in place to deliver this and we’re very confident that this will be a high-quality project delivered within this budget and we look forward to with the project that it is,” Metro Vancouver Board Chair Mike Hurley said.
Metro Vancouver homeowners remain on the hook for the project’s over-sized budget.
The biggest payments will be for North Shore households, which will have to pay an additional $590 a year over a 30-year period.
Other Metro Vancouver homeowners will see their utility rates climb by $80 and $150 for 15 years.