Although the City of Port Alberni has received a non-compliance warning with regards to its new wastewater treatment plant, the city emphasizes that there is no risk to the environment or the public.

In December 2024, the city received a warning letter from the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy in response to a routine inspection back in August 2024. The letter informs the city that the new wastewater treatment plant is out of compliance with the Environmental Management Act and the facility's operational certificate.

Jim MacDonald, the city's director of infrastructure, emphasized to city council during a meeting on Monday, Jan. 13 that the B次元官网网址渕ajorityB次元官网网址� of the non-compliance issues were B次元官网网址渁dministrativeB次元官网网址� in nature. He added that none of the results are detrimental to the environment or to public health and safety.

MacDonald said that many of the issues are due to the fact the facility is still somewhat new. The plant has only been operating since 2022.

B次元官网网址淲ith the facility being a new plant and a new operating certificate, there are often things that you don't notice until you start running the plant and going through the motions of doing the testing and doing the reporting,B次元官网网址� he said.

For example, one out of compliance issue shows that the plant's flow monitoring equipment is not functioning properly, and MacDonald said the city is still working to get that resolved.

The ministry's warning letter noted that the flow meter did not provide flow data for eight months in 2022 (from January to August), and was again corrupted in January 2024, meaning ministry staff could not determine whether the city exceeded the maximum rate of discharge during those periods. The city did not exceed the maximum (79,400 cubic metres per day) during all other reported periods.

B次元官网网址淲e have an action plan submitted,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淚t is our utmost priority to get this back within compliance as quick as possible. We recognize the importance of this, both for transparency and the publicB次元官网网址檚 trust in us.B次元官网网址�

In a later press release, the city stated that the following actions to address compliance are currently underway: submission of required reports, amendments to the Operational Certificate to better align with daily operations, designing a retrofit for the existing effluent flow monitoring system, updating signage and re-assessing water quality results.

If the city does not follow through then it could face a fine of up to $1 million, according to the environment ministry.