Paradise sewage station problem could last for a week, mayor says

Some areas of Paradise could remain in a state of emergency for a week, as crews work on resolving a sewage station problem, says the mayor.

Paradise declared a state of emergency for areas from Plateau Park to Valley Ridge on Monday as repairs were needed for Lift Station 10.

Mayor Dan Bobbett said he doesn't know when the state of emergency will be lifted.

"Right now I have no projections. We're hoping it's going to be very soon," Bobbett told CBC Radio's The St. John's Morning Show on Tuesday.

"We've got it in a place for about a week right now. But if we get the repairs done, we can lift that state of emergency."

On Friday morning Lift Station 10 malfunctioned, so Bobbett said a pumper truck and crew were called in to the facility to try to solve the problem over the weekend. On Monday it became evident the town needed additional resources, which required a state of emergency to be declared.

"Again, this is the same one that we had issues with in 2019," said Bobbett.

In 2019, a failure in the system resulted in raw sewage flooding the lawn and driveway of a nearby resident. At one point it was costing the town $50,000 a day to manage the issue and was estimated to have cost approximately $1.5 million to fix.

Since that initial problem five years ago, Bobbett said work has been underway for the construction of a new station to replace the existing one. 

He said they are only a few months away from that new station being commissioned.

"It's a $24 million facility with redundancies and pumps in place," he said.

Unknown costs

Bobbett said the pumper truck at the sewage station is moving the effluent so it will still end up at the sewage treatment plant.

"We do have a sewage treatment plant on St. Thomas Line and that's what this lift station does. It pushes the sewage up over the hill and then it flows by gravity," he said.

He also isn't sure how much this might end up costing the town.

"Obviously, we're still in the midst of the state of emergency and trucking. So we don't have any full cost estimate as of yet, but it is an unexpected cost for the town," he said.

Impacted residents are being asked to reduce their water consumption, such as limiting showers and using dishwashers, which will help repair work go faster, said Bobbett.

"Crews are working to lower those levels so that they can access the infrastructure to make necessary repairs."

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