Green Municipal Funds Assist Prince Rupert with Development of Liquid Waste Management Plan

PRINCE RUPERT – On June 11, 2009 the Federation of Canadian Municipalities announced that the City of Prince Rupert has been awarded a $42,941 Green Municipal Fund (GMF) grant. The City is using the grant to initiate the first stage of developing a Liquid Waste Management Plan (LWMP) to manage the City’s wastewater.

The City of Prince Rupert’s Liquid Waste Management Plan (LWMP) will allow the municipality to address the complex issues relating to Prince Rupert’s outdated wastewater infrastructure. The City estimates that more than half of its sewer infrastructure is more than sixty years old. The goal of the first stage of the LWMP development is to lay the foundation for a comprehensive plan to guide the City in effectively managing its liquid waste, and improving marine water quality in Prince Rupert harbour.

The outcome of stage one of the plan development was the identification of four critical issues: wastewater source control, required wastewater treatment levels, management of wet-weather water flows, and the costs of infrastructure replacement and rehabilitation. As the LWMP is developed and implemented, marine water levels of both biochemical oxygen demand and total suspended solids are expected to improve dramatically.

“The City of Prince Rupert appreciates the financial support we have received from the Green Municipal Fund to assist us with Stage One of our new Liquid Waste Management Plan,” said Prince Rupert mayor, Jack Mussallem. “The Stage One work will allow us to fully identify our long-term options with respect to protecting both human health and the environment. This will give the City a firm footing on which to build a liquid waste management strategy that will guide us for many years to come. It is exciting to finally move this forward. Prince Rupert is proud to be leading this initiative and looks forward to completing this and later stages of the plan.”