BARRHEAD - Alberta Environment and Protected Areas (AEP) has approved an emergency release at the County of Barrhead's Thunder Lake wastewater lagoon.
The municipality has been working with the department to look for ways to alleviate the facility's capacity issues so it can reopen the facility.
Infrastructure director Ken Hove told councillors during their June 4 meeting that AEP granted the municipality's release to carry out the emergency release.
He added that pumping out the lagoon commenced on May 29, and it will take roughly five to six weeks until the facility is drained low enough to be reopened.
"Our staff are following all conditions of the release as set out by AEP, turning off the pumps every day, monitoring the discharge area so that we are not flooding it," Hove said.
In early April, public works closed the lagoon for the season due to lack of capacity.
Coun. Walter Preugschas asked how long Hove expected the lagoon to remain open once it was lowered to a functional level.
Hove wasn't prepared to give a time length.
"Hopefully, evaporation will work better with the lower water level, as it is not as deep, and the sun can reflect off the bottom," he said. "But we will have to do a desludging at some point as 30 per cent of it is filled with sludge."
Historically, the municipality's wastewater lagoons in Dunstable, Neerlandia, and Thunder Lake have experienced capacity issues, forcing emergency releases or prolonged closures. The county's other wastewater lagoons are in Manola and Neerlandia, the latter of which just underwent a significant expansion. Before that, the aging facility, while it did not suffer from multiple closures, was nearing its capacity limits.
Public works manager Travis Wierenga added that council has also authorized staff to limit volumes dumped into the lagoon.
"From 2016 to 2021, the incoming volume was way too high," he said. "Once we did our assessment report, we were able to figure out where the level should be, so the amount coming in can be evaporated on average in a year. If we do that, it should stay more stable as long as we can keep it at that level."
Wierenga was referring to the report the municipality commissioned Associated Engineering to undertake in 2022. In it, they recommended that the municipality cap lagoon levels at 4,366 cubic metres annually.
County manager Debbie Oyarzun interjected that in an attempt to manage the levels, the municipality enacted a best practices policy, limiting the facility's use to residents of Lightning Bay, Summerlea, Hamlet of Thunder Lake, Campsie, Tiger Lake Estates, Cambarr Estates, and Campsie Cove.
Coun. Bill Lane suggested that the municipality drain the lagoon even further so they could conduct the desludging more easily.
Hove replied it would be some time before they could start the desludging.
"I think we will be OK for a year or so. It is a big project, and we will have to budget for it," he said, adding that the procedure would cost upwards of $140,000.
Reeve Doug Drozd agreed that the council would need to consider adding it during the next budget cycle for the 2025 budget.
"We've never gotten one before ... Ever," he said.
Wierenga suggested that council need to have that conversation sooner rather than later, noting that AEP told the municipality that they needed to seriously consider desludging as part of their discussions to allow the emergency release.
Oyarzun agreed, emphasizing the need for the municipality to develop a plan for managing its wastewater facilities.
"Because these emergency releases are one-off," she said.
Drozd agreed, saying they were fortunate that AEP approved their emergency release request at Thunder Lake.
"We've never gotten one before. Ever," he said.
