The City of Lloydminster has officially opened its double-award-winning $81.5 million Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Located past the city dump off 40 Ave North, along 67 Street East, the facility was completed ahead of schedule and on budget using an Integrated Project Delivery Model (IPD).
The system can treat 42,000 cubic metres of wastewater per day.
Mayor Gerald Aalbers, speaking on the occasion stopped to share condolences on behalf of the city and community to the family of the late Councillor Glenn Fagnan, who passed away on Sunday, June 16, at the age of 65. The mayor then paused for a moment of silence.
Aalbers thanked the governments of Canada, Alberta, and Saskatchewan for their support over the life of the project from the IPD phase in 2019, through construction from April 2021 to handing over in November 2023.
“Today, I want to express my personal gratitude again for your ongoing commitment to creating a cleaner future, and a higher quality of life for both current and future generations.”
Going forward, future discussions will involve treating wastewater from surrounding communities and selling the sanitized water to industry. The cleaned water is presently being returned to the North Saskatchewan River.
Lloydminster MLA Colleen Young expressed the Saskatchewan government’s belief in the role of partnerships in bringing the project to fruition, and Lloydminster-Vermilion-Wainwright MLA Garth Rowswell commended the use of the IPD model which withstood the test over the COVID shutdown in seeing the plant coming online last fall.
The mayor and council could have faced penalties from the federal government’s new environmental policies, and the city was at risk of being fined if the plant was not completed by Dec. 1, 2023.