The Corporation of the Town of Atikokan - Multiple orders

Instrument types

This notice includes multiple instruments:

• Order to alleviate effects of discharges to water
• Direction to keep sewage works in repair

Description of Instrument

The Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (the Ministry), intends to issue an Order under Sections 16, 16(1), 16(2), 30, 32, 53, 60, 61 and 62 of the Ontario Water Resources Act (OWRA) to the Township of Atikokan.

Under these sections of the OWRA, the Director may require a person who owns a Sewage Works to take certain actions and environmental measures to operate the Sewage Works in accordance with an environmental compliance approval, to protect the natural environment and to prevent or reduce the discharge of sewage into the natural environment from the sewage works.

The Town’s Sewage Works consists of ten sewage pumping stations, an extended aeration sewage treatment plant and associated sewers and piping. Wet weather flows in the Sewage Works results in sewage pumping station overflows to the Atikokan River, surcharging in the system and flooding of resident’s basements. Accidental or inadvertent releases of sewage from the Sewage Works to the Atikokan River occur during both dry weather and wet weather events.

The required actions in the proposed Director’s Order include, but are not limited to, the Corporation of the Town of Atikokan undertaking the following in accordance with the identified timelines:

1. Submit the “Final Report, Town of Atikokan, Wet Weather Flow Control Plan”, dated 2017
2. Issue a Public Notice for the project, in accordance with the Municipal Engineers’ Association Municipal Class Environmental Assessment notification requirements
3. Submit an Environmental Compliance Approval Application for a system-wide approval for the Sewage Works
4. Perform sewer capacity upgrades to allow for the Sewage Works to handle peak flows during a 50-year storm without flooding basements
5. Perform sewage pumping station upgrades to ensure the ability to pump specified minimum flows through the forcemains between the sewage pumping stations and to the sewage treatment plant
6. Perform sewage treatment plant upgrades to install automatic samplers on the sewage treatment plant influent and effluent streams
7. Until the requirements of the Order are completed, every six months submit reports to the Ministry detailing completed work and proposed work
8. Maintain and operate the Sewage Works in a good state of repair to maximize the flow of sewage to the water treatment plant and minimize overflows to the Atikokan River
9. Monitor weather forecasts daily in order to anticipate the potential for a wet weather event
10. During times of a potential overflow ensure required equipment is in place and serviceable and personnel are available to monitor or ensure the equipment operates properly

Other information

Background:

The Corporation of the Town of Atikokan is the owner of the Sewage Works, including all the works that were transferred to the Town on November 22, 2004, pursuant to the Municipal Water and Sewage Transfer Act, 1997, S.O. 1997, chapter 6, Schedule A.

In 2011, the Town commissioned Hatch-Mott MacDonald in association with Kresin Engineering Corporation to prepare a report to address untreated sewage overflows that occur from the sanitary sewage system during wet weather events. The “Final Report, Township of Atikokan, Wet Weather Flow Control Plan”, dated May 26, 2011, recommended a number of remedial measures to be taken to reduce the frequency, rate and volume of sewage overflows from the Sewage Works and to mitigate the occurrence of surcharging and sewage backups into basements.

In 2012, the Town commissioned Hatch-Mott MacDonald in association with Kresin Engineering Corporation to prepare an updated report. The “Final Report, Township of Atikokan, Wet Weather Flow Control Plan Update”, dated October 2012, (the WWFCPU 2012 Report) provides more detail on remedial measures to reduce the frequency, rate and volume of sewage pumping station overflows and plant overflows from the Sewage Works and to mitigate the occurrence of surcharging sewage backups into basements.

In 2014-2016, discussions between the Ministry and the Town continued with the focus on the Town refining its WWFCPU 2012 Report to:

1. minimize the risk of surcharging and basement flooding,
2. minimize sewage pumping station overflows,
3. increase pumping capacity to direct more sewage to the sewage treatment plant,
4. maximize capacity of the sewage treatment plant to treat wet weather flows, and
5. convey peak flows during at least a 50-year storm without flooding basements

The wet weather flows expected during a 50-year storm are based on modelling and engineering analysis completed by the Town’s consulting engineers. The consulting engineers’ modelling analysis supports the ability of the proposed Sewage Works improvements to entirely convey, and mostly treat wet weather flows that are expected to occur during at least a 50-year storm without causing surcharging to levels that flood basements. As the Town is constructed in a flood plain, has poor surface drainage surrounding the houses, and has a significant amount of inflow and infiltration into the Sewage Works, the engineer’s analysis indicated that enhancements that could accommodate a rainfall event beyond the 50-year benchmark were both cost prohibitive and would not eliminate basement flooding in the Town.

In order to protect the public interest and to minimize surcharging and basement flooding and to decrease or eliminate any adverse effects that may result from the discharge of a contaminant from the Sewage Works, it is important that the work described in this Order be undertaken.