Dawson sewage lagoon plans pass latest court review

The town of Dawson City's plans for a sewage lagoon passed another review in the Yukon's territorial court Thursday, but the judge who ordered that plant warned the town that it could face serious consequences if its plans are derailed.

Mayor John Steins was beaming after Thursday's court hearing in Whitehorse, in which he told Judge Heino Lilles that "the stars have aligned" and the town is on the brink of building its own sewage treatment plant. Lilles said he was satisfied with the town's plans.

"We accomplished a lot; we satisfied the judge," Steins said outside court. "So we have to be very happy about that."

Dawson City has been under a court order to build a treatment plant since 2003, when it was fined $5,000 for pumping raw sewage into the Yukon River.

Lilles told the court Thursday that he hasn't fined the town even more — up to $250,000 — only because it had acknowledged its guilt and promised to stem the flow of sewage into the river.

The judge also acknowledged an upcoming referendum on the lagoon's proposed site, spurred by residents opposed to the current site at the entrance to the town, near the baseball diamonds.

Lilles said he hopes voters in the referendum, slated for March 6, will not cast ballots with a "not in my backyard" mentality.

"That would be troubling, there's no doubt," Crown prosecutor John Cliffe said outside court, adding that he would not speculate on what would happen if residents do vote to block the current lagoon location.

"It's been a long five years since the imposition of the order. There's been progress and movement to get to a situation that they're at in Dawson…. Whatever they're going to chose, I hope they make an informed decision."

Lilles also acknowledged that his deadline for completing the lagoon — this December — will have to be extended again, as engineers are now aiming for 2011 as the completion date. Engineers also estimated costs of the project to be around $17 million.