Yukon, Dawson making progress on new sewage plan: mayor

The Yukon government and the Town of Dawson City are getting closer to a new solution to the town's ongoing sewage problems, Mayor John Steins said.

Officials are looking at plans for a mechanical treatment plant, as well as a new location for a proposed sewage lagoon, as part of the town's court-ordered obligation to treat its sewage.

"I think there's every indication now that we do have something to bring, and to allay concern that we're not living up to our court order," Steins said.

The Yukon territorial court made the order in 2003, when it fined Dawson for dumping raw sewage into the Yukon River.

Original plans to build a sewage lagoon suffered a setback in March, when the majority of residents in a referendum voted against the lagoon's proposed location on Dome Road.

The territorial government, which is working with the town on the sewage plan, is now issuing a request for proposals on a new sewage treatment system.

Steins said while council and government officials are forging ahead with new plans for a mechanical treatment system, the idea of a sewage lagoon still exists — just in a different area.

"It's not all lost," he said. "It's work, developmental work, that can be transferred to another location if need be."

Concerned residents who voted against the lagoon's location in March said the site was too close to First Nations housing and their underground drinking water source.

They also said the territorial government and the town imposed the proposed site on them without their input.

Jorn Meier, the Dawson resident who spearheaded the referendum against the lagoon's location, said he is open to whatever new ideas come forward.

"We want a solution, a sewage solution for Dawson. This is what we all want," Meier said.

"We don't want to go another 30 years without sewage [treatment]. We don't want to go about 10 years without sewage."

The new plan from Dawson and the Yukon government is expected to be presented in court on Sept. 22.