Metro Vancouver officials say that construction is ramping up on the 3.5-hectare site of the beleaguered North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP), following confirmation of new contract details with PCL Construction.
Within the contract with PCL, Metro Vancouver expects that about half of the work to complete the project will be competitively bid among subcontractors, vendors, and suppliers. The latest estimated total contract price of $1.95 billion is within the approved budget for the program.
PCL was hired in 2022 for early construction works on the North Shore plant under a competitive bidding process, with the option to negotiate a contract for completing the full project. Now, work is ramping up as PCL expands its construction program and continues to mobilize staff, equipment, and materials to the site, according to local officials.
Travis Chorney, senior vice president of PCL’s heavy industrial division, says the company is ready for the major construction project as it celebrates a half-century of work for clients in the Lower Mainland.
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“With a proven track record in delivering quality water and wastewater projects in both commercial and industrial settings, PCL is well prepared for the challenges and opportunities that come with building a future-focused treatment plant for Metro Vancouver and the people of the North Shore,” Chorney announced in a statement.
Mike Hurley, chair of the Metro Vancouver Board, says he’s “pleased to be moving forward in a positive direction” on the major project. He told local media in late January that he would like the provincial government to be involved in a governance and efficiency review of the board, both in general and on its work around the North Shore project, which has quintupled its original budget and is on track to miss its 2023 completion target by seven years.
The project’s full anticipated price tag remains at $3.86 billion.
In fall 2024, Metro Vancouver officials initiated an independent audit of ballooning costs around the development of the plant and hired a former judge to lead the process.
Metro Vancouver officials remain embroiled in a lawsuit with original Spain-based contractor Acciona Wastewater Solutions LP, who in turn, is suing the region. Acciona alleges in the lawsuit that Metro Vancouver requested more than 1,000 major changes and alterations to the North Shore wastewater project, resulting in “numerous conflicts, inconsistencies, and impossibilities in the requirements” of the agreement for the project. Metro Vancouver officials, meanwhile, allege the contractor essentially abandoned work at its West 1st Street site and that it had reduced staff from 300 to about 50 workers, despite already significant construction delays.
The new North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant will serve over 300,000 residents and businesses in the Districts of North and West Vancouver, the City of North Vancouver, and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh Nation). It will replace the existing Lions Gate Wastewater Treatment Plant, one of the last plants on the west coast of Canada and the U.S. that provides only primary-level wastewater treatment.
? Construction ramps up at the North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant! Metro Vancouver & PCL Construction are teaming up to deliver this essential project that will protect our marine environment and serve over 300,000 residents & businesses. Learn more: https://t.co/Vzv6WUQn67 pic.twitter.com/OY6ZKVm4l6
— Metro Vancouver (@MetroVancouver) January 29, 2025
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