Chatham-Kent Public Utilities will decommission one of its sewage treatment plants rather than spend large amounts of money trying to fix or replace it.
General Manager Tim Sunderland says it is more economical to pump the sewage to another facility for treatment than to repair the Thamesville plant.
"Structurally we are having options with the sewage treatment plant itself, it's time to look at regionalization as well," he says. "One of the options that came from the environmental assessment process is to pump the sewage from Thamesville to Ridgetown."
Sunderland says there several remedial options including fixing or replacing the Thamesville plant or using a pipeline to Dresden for treatment. However, he says the 16 km to Ridgetown is the most economical solution.
The PUC has approve a $284,700 contract to Dillon Consulting to design an upgraded pumping station and pipeline. Once the design and engineering work is complete the PUC will look at tendering the construction project in the spring.