French Creek Pollution Control Centre: Expansion and Odour Control Upgrades

The RDN applied to the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program for additional grant funding to support this project. If successful, we would receive an infrastructure grant of $12.7 to $18.7 million in Federal and Provincial funding (in addition to the $733,312 announced recently).

A decision on this funding program is expected in Spring 2023.

The RDN is pleased to announce $733,312 in approved grant funding for the FCPCC Expansion and Odour Control Upgrade Project. The funding is through the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program – CleanBC Communities Fund Program by the Government of Canada and Province of British Columbia. The grant will be used to fund two sustainable design features of the new process building: solar panels and heat recovery.

See the recent News Release for more information.

The RDN recently completed a Value Engineering Study to look at ways to:

• improve the project design
• provide maximum value to the community.

Based on the results, the RDN Board approved further study on two design alternatives:

1. Abandon the existing trickling filter because of its high risk for odours. Use a treatment system that produces less odours, like the one at the upgraded Greater Nanaimo Pollution Control Centre.
2. Use the Qualicum Interceptor to balance flows coming into the plant. The Qualicum Interceptor currently collects all wastewater from the north of the plant.

Follow-up studies on alternatives 1 and 2 will proceed next.

On June 22, 2021, the RDN Board reviewed a revised project cost estimate of $62.3 million that considered the cost escalation seen through the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, the RDN Board approved a phased approach to the project.

• In Fall 2021 the RDN will conduct a value engineering study of the expansion component of the project. The results of the value engineering exercise will be presented to the Board for further discussion in Spring 2022.

In addition, the Province provided notification that the RDN was not successful in its $7.3 million grant application for odour control upgrades and ageing infrastructure renewals. A decision is pending on the RDN’s $730,000 grant application for solar energy and heat recovery installations on the expansion project, to lower greenhouse gas emissions

To complete the tree clearing before the active bird nesting season begins on March 15th, crews will work on Saturday, March 13, 2021 between the hours of 8AM and 4PM.

Tree clearing and grubbing is necessary to provide construction access to the site and room for the plant expansion.

• Tree clearing will occur the week of March 8 and will be complete before the active bird nesting season begins on March 15.
• Grubbing of the stumps will follow immediately after tree clearing and will be complete by April 16.

Work will take place from Monday to Friday, 7AM to 6PM. Residents can expect noise from chainsaws and heavy equipment during this time and, potentially, minor traffic delays on Highway 19A while heavy equipment sets up.

At the Regular Board meeting on September 15, 2020, the RDN Board approved the addition of the following items to the project to contribute to carbon neutrality in the region:

1. Recovering Heat From Effluent - This will offset all natural gas heating for the new expansion process building and reduce the equivalent greenhouse gas emissions by 11.24 tonnes a year. This is a 91% improvement over natural gas.
2. Adding solar panels to the roof of the new expansion process building - 144 solar panels on the roof of the new expansion process building will produce an estimated 44.7kW of electrical power and offset the purchase of power from BC Hydro. This system would reduce the equivalent greenhouse gas emissions by 2 tonnes a year.

The new expansion process building will also have a wood exterior over a steel frame to compliment the Wood First for RDN Facilities Policy and the Green Building Policy for RDN Facilities.

Project information posters are now available in the Background Documents.

Preliminary monitoring results indicate that some odour controls at the existing plant are working effectively and others require maintenance:

• The existing biofilter is effectively reducing odours
• The chemical scrubber requires maintenance
• The biological scrubber also requires maintenance.

Improvements underway now:

• FCPCC operators are currently troubleshooting repairs on the chemical scrubbers. FCPCC operators will focus on the biological scrubbers next.
• We are testing a charcoal filter on the septage receiving station. VIU will sample this in the upcoming months to assess its effectiveness.

Additionally, these odour control upgrades are being incorporated into the project design:

• The odour upgrades will aim to minimize or eliminate nuisance odours so they are not detectable outside of the property boundary:
• Existing biofilter media will be upgraded to treat foul air from the expansion
• A new biofilter will be added to treat foul air from the trickling filter
• Trickling filter window and roof seals will be improved.

A full set of project drawings is under review by RDN engineering and operations. The next step in the design process will be a 90% Detailed Design package, followed by the final Issued for Tender (IFT) drawings and specification package.