TransAqua shelves P3 plan for $80M wastewater plant upgrade

The Greater Moncton Wastewater Commission has dropped plans to use a public-private partnership for an $80-million wastewater treatment upgrade.

Winston Pearce, the chairman of the commission, which is now known as TransAqua, said the board does not believe forgingahead with a public-private partnership is the right move.

"After much thought, study and consideration, the commission has decided to remove P3 from the table," Pearce said in a statement issued on Sunday.

"While P3 can certainly be a viable option for a number of projects, we determined that it just wasn't right for us at this time. This decision was made after completing a thorough due diligence process."

Pearce said TransAqua will look at other options including the Building Canada Fund or paying for the project itself.

The plant must be upgraded by 2020 to meet new federal clean water regulations.

In March, Pearce said greater Moncton's wastewater treatment plant is putting out water that is about 75 per cent pure.

Once the upgrade is complete, the goal is produce water that is 97 per cent pure.

The Moncton wastewater system is the only one in the province that does not have secondary treatment.

"We continue to work diligently toward establishing a secondary treatment process which will greatly increase the quality of our effluent into the Petitcodiac River," Pearce said in a statement.