Current State Of Affairs – July 2, 2015
Currently the City of Nanaimo is in an extremely challenging position. The Dam Safety Section has ordered the City of Nanaimo to choose from one of two remediation options that Council does not consider to be in the community’s best interest, and are options which may well be in excess of what is required since Council does not have the sufficient information it needs to make a properly informed decision.
The following timeline highlights the significant events which have recently occurred.
May 21, 2015 - City of Nanaimo files notice of appeal
On May 21, 2015, the City of Nanaimo filed notice of appeal to have the order altered or cancelled through legal channels, in order to get a reasonable amount of time permitted to complete due diligence and explore more suitable options.
May 26, 2015 - City of Nanaimo files application for a stay
On May 26, 2015, the City of Nanaimo filed application for a stay to allow the City time to have their appeal heard without having to choose one of the two options in the interim by having the order held in abeyance until the Environmental Appeal Board has heard the City’s appeal.
May 29, 2015 - City of Nanaimo receives a temporary stay
The City of Nanaimo has been granted a temporary stay of the Comptroller’s order.
June 4, 2015 - Members of Council meet with DSS
On June 4, 2015, Council members met with Dam Safety Section officials in order to present a report (see report) and convey a better understanding of the circumstances to the officials so that a potential compromise could be reached and Council could finish the necessary due diligence towards design flood performance studies and select a remediation option which both meets regulatory requirements and satisfies the community’s best interests. According to Council, the DSS expressed their willingness to consider an alternate solution and encouraged Council to follow up at a later date with a proposal.
To read the report that Members of Council submitted to the DSS click here.
June 22, 2015 - City of Nanaimo provides DSS with proposal
On June 22, 2015, the City of Nanaimo provided the DSS with a proposal (see proposal) which addressed immediate risk concerns, expressed their need for a time extension to complete proper due diligence on the lower dam, reiterated their commitment towards ensuring that the dams meet regulatory requirements and committed to starting remediation on the middle dam upon acceptance of the proposal, and to complete any required work found necessary on both dams within the combined time frame that has been imposed on the middle and lower dams by starting remediation work with the middle dam followed by the lower dam.
To read the proposal that was submitted to the DSS click here.
June 24, 2015 - DSS rejects the proposal
On June 24, 2015, the DSS rejected the proposal stating that it did not not satisfy the terms of the order, and as well, expressed that legal counsel is to be present if further discussions are to take place.
June 30, 2015 - Stay application is denied
On June 30, 2015, the Environmental Appeal Board denied the application for a stay. The temporary stay is rescinded, and the EAB has directed the Comptroller to impose new timelines for completion of the Order respected the lower dam.
City Council must now begin the difficult process of determining their next steps.
Members of Council understand that it simply does not make financial sense to proceed with a remediation solution at a cost of $3-10 million in order to mitigate a potential financial risk of $2.5 million or less. They also understand that it does not make sense to permit needless destruction of the park due to poor decision making skills.
Members of Council strongly object to choosing from one of the two ordered options. Members of Council have determined that the extreme sense of urgency to complete remediation immediately is excessive – and the waste of millions of dollars, needless destruction of the park, and potential damage to the fragile eco system before being able to apply proper due diligence is not justified.
For more details about the facts click here
To read the report that Members of Council have submitted to the DSS click here.
Below are the reasonable steps that the City of Nanaimo has proposed to the DSS.
City Of Nanaimo Proposal
The City of Nanaimo has provided the DSS with a proposal (see proposal) which addresses immediate risk concerns, expresses their need for a time extension to complete proper due diligence on the lower dam, reiterated their commitment towards ensuring that the dams meet regulatory requirements and committed to starting remediation on the middle dam upon acceptance of the proposal, and to complete any required work found necessary on both dams within the combined time frame that has been imposed on the middle and lower dams by starting remediation work with the middle dam followed by the lower dam.
The following proposal was sent from the City of Nanaimo to Glen Davidson, Director & Comptroller of Water Rights:
Dear Mr. Davidson:
Thank you for meeting with us on 2015-JUN-04 regarding the order issued for the Middle and Lower Chase River Dam and thank you as well for informing us after our discussion that you do have the power to amend the order if you so choose.
As we discussed in the meeting, one of the largest barriers we have identified as a result of the order issued is that we have not had a reasonable amount of time to complete further studies in order to complete the due diligence that we require before making a decision upon a remediation solution.
This is compounded by the fact that the current solutions that we are offered to choose from, do not meet the best interests of the City and its community. Given a reasonable amount of time, we are confident in being able to support a compliant solution that meets the best interests of the City and Dam Safety Section (DSS) regulations.
Through internal discussions following the meeting we have developed a framework based on information provided at the meeting which further addresses current risk concerns, and we present them below for your consideration. We would be glad to work with you on them over the phone or in another meeting to expedite the process and reach a suitable compromise.
We want to reiterate that we are committed to ensuring that both dams become fully compliant, and only need a reasonable amount of time to gather new information and data to complete proper due diligence before selecting a remediation option. It is with this in mind that we propose the following.
The City of Nanaimo proposes an alternate solution; to complete remediation work on the middle dam in 2015, with a remediation solution for the lower dam to be selected by the end of year 2016 in order to have a reasonable amount of time to complete due diligence with accurate information and data, and commit to an appropriate solution for the lower dam that meets DSS regulations and the needs of our City. The City of Nanaimo commits to ensuring that both dams are in compliance by the end of 2017.
We respectfully request that you allow us to proceed as proposed by amending the order to permit the amount of time that the City of Nanaimo has determined necessary to complete proper due diligence and select a suitable remediation solution.
As outlined below, the following steps are proposed:
- GSI will be retained to finalize an overtopping design for the middle dam that meets the small dam regulatory requirements, and complete the designed remediation work for the middle dam by 2015-NOV-01.
- A Flood Routing Capacity Plan will be developed and fully implemented by a date to be determined in cooperation with the DSS in order to prevent the risk of overtopping the lower dam in the event of a significant flood.
- The current Emergency Notification and Response Plan will be reviewed and updated if found necessary to better meet current conditions.
- Ongoing monitoring of the dams, annual inspections, and maintenance and repairs as required will occur to ensure that degradation has not and does not occur.
- Appoint a select committee to establish the studies required in order to complete due diligence on the lower dam, e.g., watershed capacity, physical hydrology measurements and further site investigations.
- Required studies established by the select committee will be completed in a reasonable and timely manner, ending within 2016 to ensure that any remediation measures determined to be necessary are finalized and that suitable remediation options are ready for deliberation.
- A solution will be chosen from the remediation options identified. All design work, tendering, and contractor selection will be completed by no later than the end of the first quarter of 2017.
- All work of the chosen remediation solution will be completed by the end of 2017.
Attached is a diagram which correlates the steps with the alternately proposed timeline in the form of milestones.
We sincerely hope that this represents a solution that will meet with needs of the DSS, the Province, and the City of Nanaimo.
Please do not hesitate to call us at your convenience to discuss further. We hope that our proposal is well received and look forward to hearing back, thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Mayor and Council
City of Nanaimo
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