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After just two years on the South Bay Wellfield drinking water system, about half of West Saint John will now be serviced by the new Loch Lomond drinking water facility.
The six neighbourhoods being transferred are the lower west side, Milford, Randolph, Fundy Heights, Duck Cove and Sand Cove. The change comes after water levels have fallen a metre below sea level due to higher than expected demand, meaning seawater could begin to seep into the wells in the future.
The city’s water commissioner Brent McGovern says there is no immediate danger and that the move is a preventative measure that will allow the city to find a permanent solution for the miscalculation.
“I want to emphasize that there’s no evidence of any intrusion of saltwater or brackish water today,” said McGovern.
“This is a gradual process that can take years. However, it is best that we take early action to prevent any consequences from occurring.”
READ MORE: City says Saint John’s $200 million water project on time, on budget
In a presentation to council on Monday night, McGovern said the shortfall is no fault of the city’s but is due to bad information from BGC Engineering, the firm hired to complete the project.
BGC’s contract with the city has been terminated and the city is pursuing legal action to recoup project costs.
“What I can say is the city of Saint John did its due diligence, relied upon experts, those experts provided recommendations, those recommendations were independently reviewed by two separate experts and all of them recommended to the city of Saint John that the wells could meet the demands of west Saint John,” McGovern said.
“Decisions were made on good, fact-based information at the time. It just so happens that the advice provided was wrong.”
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Councillors were quick to draw attention to the fact that the city followed best practice throughout the procurement and development process but was fed bad information.
“Our staff did exactly what they should have done, they crossed all their T’s, they dotted all their I’s, they used best practices in making these decisions and no fault of their own, we paid for, we paid good money for information that was incorrect,” said councillor David Merrithew.
“I’m sure I share the sentiment of everyone around the horseshoe when I say that it’s incredibly disappointing that we were misled by a company like BGC and it’s refreshing to know that city staff is doing their job in making sure that folks can maintain their water,” said councillor David Hickey.
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Saint John Mayor Don Darling said the city will do what it can to mitigate the damage from acting upon that bad information. On Monday night, council approved $275,000 to hire law firm Torys LLP to represent the city in the matter.
“It’s incredibly frustrating. Again, that’s why we hired an excellent engineering firm that we counted on that gave us bad advice,” he said.
“That’s why we’ve hired a law firm. That’s why we’re going to recoup, certainly attempt to recoup every dollar that taxpayers have invested in that bad advice.”
BGC Engineering says they are aware of the recent shortfall issues but say the cause has yet to be determined.
“BGC is confident that advice it has given to the City has been appropriate,” said the company in a statement.
“If requested to do so, BGC will continue to support the City on this project.”
The west side well system has not been without its issues.
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Ever since the change in 2017 there have been widespread complaints over water quality and reports of pipe damage in people’s homes. A class-action lawsuit pertaining to these issues is currently making its way through the courts.
Paul Allan is one of many to experience water quality issues on the west side and says he stopped drinking the water after the change two years ago.
“There’s a film, like a scum, kind of… all around the sink. You have to clean it every day,” said Allan, who lives a stone’s throw away from the wellfield. “We’re not currently drinking any of the water. We don’t feel safe.”
READ MORE: Study on water pipe leaks in west Saint John to be presented to common council
Allan said he was surprised to hear that the new system is not delivering as intended.
“I can’t believe with the amount of resources and money that they’ve thrown at this, I’m a little shocked that our engineers and our planners and everyone who does all the procurement has not at least done their due diligence,” he said.
“Frankly, I don’t know how you invest millions and millions of dollars without doing your homework. It’s shocking. I’m left really, really shocked.”
Those being switched to the Loch Lomond system will be moved over by the end of the year. The city will use an existing pipe on the bottom of Reversing Falls Bridge to move the water but will need to construct a pumping station, which is expected to cost about $500,000.
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