Last year, we reported on how the camp deal with TC, formerly known as TransCanada, could earn the village as much as $384, 000, for their usage of water and sewage services at its work camp north of Tchesinkut Lake. Earlier this week, Chief Administrative Officer Sheryl Worthing confirmed that the payments have started and so far, the village has secured approximately $12,000 of payment under the services usage agreement.
The village is the only water and sewage access to the 7-Mile Road Multi-use Site, that is east of Highway 35, even though it is outside village boundaries and under the jurisdiction of the Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako. The site is expected to accommodate as many as 600 labourers who will build a section of the Coastal GasLink (CGL) pipeline that will run from northeastern British Columbia to a facility in Kitimat.
In a Sept. 10, 2019 council meeting, Dale Ross, the Director of Public Works told the village council that the water station would be located on Eveneshen Road, across from the site where the new water treatment plant is being built. He also talked about the sewer station that would be constructed near the sewage lagoons south of Richmond Loop.
The water and sewage facilities will eventually become village assets. Their construction cost was estimated to be around $237,000, which would be reimbursed by Civeo, a work camp provider company hired by CGL. Worthing had told the Lakes District News that this would generate revenue for the village without putting additional strain on the system.
The estimated services usage of the camp over its lifespan from January of 2020 to April of 2021 is 24,000 cubic metres each of water and sewage effluent, generating $192,000 in revenue for each. Those quantities were based on estimates from TC.
The village is charging the industrial bulk water user rate of $8 per cubic meter for the usage of potable water at the camp and the sewer would be charged the same rate for treatment. The money that the village is set to earn from this deal, would be going into water and sewer projects according to Worthing.
When we contacted Coastal GasLink, their Communications Team Lead Suzanne Wilton, mentioned that the work has slowed down with limited activity across the route due to the spring thaw. Last month, the company was reportedly also planning to trim down its workforce and reduce any non-essential workforce’s onsite visits, to adhere to the social distancing measures in light of COVID-19. Worthing noted that the slowing down of the camp activity is the reason for reduced usage of the water and sewage services.