While progress is being made, it will still be at least a day before the city knows what’s wrong with its sewage treatment plant and that’s only if the rain holds off.
The Atlantic Avenue sewage treatment plant had a major malfunction after Monday morning’s storm, which flooded the plant and areas around it.
That caused the city to call a state of emergency and pleas for people to use as little water as possible so that more waste isn’t dumped into an already over-capacity system. If the rain holds off, although three more millimetres are expected, the plant should be empty in 24 hours.
“Or emptied enough to the point that we can get our skilled staff in to start making assessments in terms of the actual damage,” city infrastructure and operations manager Darrell Matson said Tuesday morning.
The city has two temporary pumps up right now but those can only deal with about half of the usual 60 megalitres that Thunder Bay sees in a day. Another five pumps will be installed by late Tuesday afternoon. A temporary pumping station is expected to be able to deal with additional flood and sewage water in the next 36 hours.
“It’s good news in the sense that we’re making progress on all fronts,” Matson said.
Until then, the city is asking people to only do what the absolutely have to in terms of flushing toilets, having showers, or any other waste water use. Mayor Keith Hobbs asked everyone to do what they can to not have more water in the system. He said the city received calls Tuesday morning that some people were washing their cars and watering lawns.
“That’s the kind of thinking we don’t need. We really need to conserve water,” he said.
“If you can do without for a few days, particularly to allow us to get caught up, we’d really appreciate it,” city manager Tim Commisso said.
Commisso said the city is still at high risk if more rain comes.
“Our system essentially is full of water and we’re not pumping that water,” he said. “There really is not a lot of flexibility.”
City officials said they have received more than 550 calls about flooded basements and other flooded areas. As for those in the East End who say their homes filled with sewage as a result of the plant’s malfunction, Commisso said he couldn’t comment on whether the city would be held liable for damage.
“That’s a legal question. I’m not going to answer it in public but we were updated on that last night and we’re doing everything we can,” he said.
While water levels in the city are receding, emergency crews are asking people to stay away from waterways as they still present a hazard. Lakehead Region Conservation Authority chair Bill Bartley said parents especially need to keep children away.
“Please let’s not make a sad situation even sadder.”
Water levels are the highest they’ve ever been in floodways Barley said.
Note to readers: This story has been updated significantly since it was first published Tuesday morning. Some of the comments below may refer to earlier versions.
