THE VOICE OF NORTH AND WEST VANCOUVER SBE. be) weekend with Now PAGE 21 mr »| TWENTY YEARS Institution of the two improve- ments, which would reduce overall! toxicity of Lions Gate's effluent, would add $950,000 or $15 per North Shore household per year to the plant's operating costs, accord- ing to the GVRD report. The amount would almost dou- ble the Lions Gate's 1989 operating budget of $1,066,478, which is shared by all three North Shore municipatities. The GVRD report, analyzing current Lower Mainland sewerage facilities and future needs, ouilines a $1.5 billion upgrade plan for the region. Its recommendations were ap- proved Thursday by the GVRD’s Water and Waste Management Committee and will now be for- warded to the GVRD board of directors for consideration March 22 The cost to institute the entire GVRD plan would increase municipal taxes by 40 to 45 per cenit rid raise average annual household costs around the Lower Mainland aaywhere from $170 in Vancouver up to $322 in the North Shore Sewerage Area. Upgrading to secondary sewage treatment of all four GVRD sewage treatment plants, including the North Shore’s Lions Gate plant, would increase municipal tax levies in North Vancouver District, West Vancouver District and North Vancouver City by 337 per cent, 333 per cent and 326 per cent respectively. Costs are based on property assessments and are calculated on 1987 figures. The burden to locai taxpayers would be reduced if the provincial and federal governments agree to contribute money to the plan. “The question is,’?’ GVRD spokesman Bud Elsie said, ‘“‘if we get no commitmen: from the two levels of government, do we pro- ceed 100 per cent? There is no way we can pay for this alone.” The federal government has in- dicated approva! of the plan only if it includes a specific commit- ment to upgrade the Annacis and Lulu Island sewage plants to sec- ondary treatment. But the approv- al does not include any financial coramitinent because the federal government has argued that it is 11’S PANDA-MONIUM at Ridgeway School. Students from one of th: school’s Grade 5 classes have been raising funds for the World Wildlife Fund to help save the endangered panda population. Last week, the class raised $300 in pledges during 2 fun run. Here students Brooke Miller (left) and Demitri Xylinas with their classmates make a panda statement in hand-painted panda T-shirts. NORTH Vancouver Michael spotlight. sculptor Binkley ...under the March 15, 1989 News 985-2131 Classified 986-6222 Distribution 986-1337 64 pages 25¢ Local sewage treatment Kes INITIAL IMPROVEM:NTS COST $950,000/ YEAR THE GREATER VANCOUVER Regional ‘istrict’s recent- ly completed stage one Liquid Waste ‘ianagement Plan recommends effluent dechlorination sad elimination of sludge discharges from the Lions Gai: sewage treatment plant as projects that should proceed immediately. >; TIMOTHY RENSHAW News Reporter rot responsible for municipal in- frastructure, North Vancouver MP Chuck Cook said Lower Mainland municipalities are facing the cur- rent sewage crisis because they have failed to upgrade facilities over the past 25 years and are now looking to the federal government NORTH Vancouver MP Chuck Cook ...sewage crisis ‘‘isn’t a fed- eral responsibility."* to bail them out. ‘“*Municipalities,’’ he said, “thave allowed themselves to get into the situation. And now they want money from the federal gov- ernment to make up for their own inadequacies. It really isn’t a fed- eral responsibility.’’ But Cook also said such federal government departments as Fish- eries and Dceans bear some re- sponsibility for not insisting on highzr environmental! standards. "So I think the feds will have to step in because of their own negligence,”” Cook said. According to the liquid waste report, existing chlorine residuals in the water adjacent to the Lions Gate outfall exceed Environmental! Protection Agency criterion for acute toxicity and have an iin- mediate detrimental impact on the receiving environment up to a half a mile from the outfall. The plant’s outfall pipe See Improvement Pago 3