Work stops on $1B North Shore water treatment plant amid layoffs by contractor

Work has ground to a halt on construction of a $1-billion wastewater treatment plant in North Vancouver, B.C., after mass layoffs by the contractor.

Metro Vancouver commissioner Jerry Dobrovolny said he learned Wednesday that Acciona Wastewater Solutions LP has "significantly reduced" the number of people working on the North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant.

The plant is currently under construction on West 1st Street near Philip Avenue and will replace the existing plant beneath the Lions Gate Bridge.

The new plant was scheduled to be completed by the end of 2020 at a cost of $700 million. The date has now been pushed back to 2023 and the cost has ballooned to over $1 billion.

In an email, Dobrovolny said Metro Vancouver's contract with Acciona has already been revised once to allow for another 2.5 years to complete the project.

While the region has made all payments that are due, the company has failed to meet some key milestones, he said. 

"Given they are years behind schedule for this project, we expect them to be increasing their efforts on site, not reducing them as we saw yesterday."

Metro Vancouver is using an independent certifier to review whether Acciona is meeting the terms of the contract, Dobrovolny said.

"At this point, Acciona Wastewater Solutions LP has not earned additional payment," he said. "We have made an effort to work together, but we expect them to honour all of the contract obligations."

He added that Metro Vancouver is "actively assessing our options" for how to make sure the project is completed.

CBC News has reached out to Acciona for comment.