By Stu Salkeld, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
East Central Alberta Review
The newly elected Village of Big Valley council heard that missing documents and missing reports related to the municipal lagoon are being addressed. The report was made at the March 18 regular meeting of council.
At a previous council meeting Village chief administrative officer (CAO) Colleen Mayne reported that recent help from the County of Stettler revealed Big Valley had not submitted some important documentation related to the municipal lagoon.
“This information has been brought to the CAO’s attention by the County of Stettler following their agreeing to provide water and wastewater support under their water/wastewater certification,” stated Mayne’s report to council.
“In following what records could be found, an emergency release of the lagoon’s effluent pond was completed on July 23, 2022. Prior to that, however, the village had received a written warning dated Feb. 24, 2022, from the federal Environment and Climate Change branch stating that the village’s discharge exceeded the suspended solid limit and was identified as an alleged violation of 6(1)(b) of the Fisheries Act.
“In addition, the village was found to have failed to test the average carbonaceous biochemical oxygen demand (CBOD) for the calendar years of 2019 through to 2021, as well as failure to submit monitoring reports during that period in a timely manner, with one of those years being reported 293 days late.
“Other alleged contraventions identified were subsections 19(1) and 18(6), paragraphs 10(4)(a) and subparagraph 19(1)(b)(iv) of the Wastewater Systems Effluent Regulations.
The village was directed to undertake the necessary corrective action to ensure compliance with the Fisheries Act and exercise due diligence in the future. Further communication addressed to or from the federal government Environment and Climate Change branch in regard to this written warning has not been found.”
The CAO also notified councillors that the village received a Jan. 29, 2024 email from an Alberta Environment protection officer, “…in regard to a visible crack which had been observed during high water levels in June 2022 on the village’s wastewater lagoon’s effluent pond and was reported to Environment.”
The CAO stated a mandatory follow-up report was supposed to be sent to Alberta Environment, including repair details and other information, but “…it was not nor can any paperwork be found.”
Readers may be interested to know, according to the online legal dictionary LawInsider.com, “’CBOD’ shall mean the quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter (carbonaceous demand) and the oxygen used to oxidize inorganic material such as sulfides and ferrous iron,” and essentially provides a measure of the impact of wastewater on the oxygen content in a receiving water body.
Mayne continued by noting the village’s annual discharge in 2023 doesn’t appear to have been carried out.
She added that MPE Engineering, which was contracted by the Village of Big Valley to conduct an infrastructure study, has identified problems with the lagoon, including the aforementioned crack and issues with four cells at the entrance of the lagoon.
“No corrective actions were done and the issues still exist and continue to worsen; repairs are required prior to the system’s failure,” stated the CAO’s memo.
Mayne reported that the Village of Big Valley met with the County of Stettler in February and, “…the county has agreed to continue assisting the village for the time being.”
The CAO’s recommendation was to await MPE Engineering’s completed infrastructure study which should include the lagoon’s exact condition and what’s needed to repair it; she also recommended meeting with the County of Stettler to update them on all lagoon developments.
Councillors discussed Mayne’s report. The CAO noted the village’s new Public Works Foreman, Monty DeMarco, has contacted the federal government about the Fisheries Act issues and is attempting to catch up on all missing reports.
Councillors accepted the CAO’s report on lagoon contraventions for information.