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The Voice of North and West Vancouver since 1969 WWW.fSNews.com ; FREE

GVRD moves to private operation of water project ” Marcie Good

News Reporter mgood@nsnews.com

THE Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD) is following a world-wide trend in water management by going to private companies to

design, build and operate a filtration plant at Seymour.

~ Six companies have expressed interest for the $135-million plant project. The plant is slated for operation in 2005. The successful candidate will be awarded the contract by the end of 2001.

2 Design and construction of maior utility projects is usually completed by ‘a private company. But this contract, which includes the plant's operation, represents a new direction for the GVRD.

A solid waste incineracor, built in 1988, has been operated by a private company for the regional district. But the GVRD has handled all water treatment and distribution facilities until now.

The shift is an alarming one to Olga Schwartzkopf, a Seymour resident who has served on the GVRD's water advisory committee since 1988. “I'm very concerned about who is running my water, and frankly, I only

trust my focal people to do that,” she said. “To me, water is the basic life- giving element that the citizens have to have control over.”

The only Canadian company in the running is Epcor Water Services Inc. which is owned by the city of Edmonton. The others include: USFilter, which is associated with Vivendi Environment Corp., Azurix Corp.; and Aquavan Water Group, a joint venture of Bechtel Canada Co. and Thames Water Holdings Inc. Vivendi, Azurix, Thames Water and Bechtel are among

“the largest transnational water companies in the world.

A private corporation, she points out, will not divulge information about “jts operations.

Schwartzkopf is also upset that the 15-member advisory committee did- n't get a chance to discuss the <.-1e. The decision to proceed with a design-

» build-operate contract was made by the GVWD board in May 1999,

“To me it would have been a logical thing to put on the table,” she said. “4D mean if we were going to decide if we needed a filtration plant or not, “surely who was going to operate that plant would have been significant. We aes : : : ane J allassumed the GVRD would run it.” ; NEWS photo Mike Wakefield

- The filzration plant will be the first in the region. Doug Neden, the H : -GVRD"s administrator of water treatment and research, says the regional dis- H a n Gg j n g a re U n re

©. trier does not have enough staff with expertise to.take on the operation ; NORTH Vancouver District Fire Dept. Lieut. Del Possey helped a high schoo! student rappel down a training wali during a career day held for teens interested in becoming firefighters.

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