Community wants answers in North Shore wastewater plant 'debacle'

The North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant is seen during construction in Fall 2020. (Metro Vancouver)

Concerned citizens from the North Shore have formed a fact-finding team to figure out why the cost of Metro Vancouver’s new wastewater treatment plant has skyrocketed to $3.86 billion, and who is to blame.

The North Shore Neighbourhoods Alliance consists of community, residents' and homeowners' associations from North Vancouver and West Vancouver.

“We have politicians sitting on the Metro board, who are getting paid no small amount by the way, and we need to figure out what happened here, and make sure it doesn't happen again,” said spokesperson Daniel Anderson.

“Simply put, this is unaffordable. We can't continue to have cost overruns like this,” he said.

The latest figure would have North Shore residents paying $590 a year for 30 years to cover the cost of the mega-project.

The NSNA’s other object is to secure more provincial and federal funding to relieve some of that burden.

“Who's being saddled with the price tag? It's a North Shore residence,” argued Anderson.

“That's not just us, that's our kids potentially, and our grandkids depending on how this goes.”

The group wants Metro Vancouver officials to open the books and let the public see exactly what lead to this “debacle," which was supposed to cost $700 million when it was first announced in 2011.