Landscape plan shows  lagoon site,  new berms and  extra landscaping on site – image courtesy City of Prince George

Prince George, B.C.-  Canfor  has been granted  a rezoning of three pieces of property  along PG Pulpmill Road  to create a  water treatment plant.

The problem from Canfor’s perspective is that it draws its  water from the Nechako River, and in the spring,  when there has been heavy  run off,  that water carries a lot of silt.   That  means  both  Intercon and P.G. Pulp  have to up the chemicals they use to  clean the water  used for the pulpmaking process.

The company says  the water treatment plant will clean the water, the silt would be  diverted to a lagoon, once the water is clean it would reduce  the company’s water consumption  as well as its use of chemicals.  The  cleaning of the water would also improve the  fire protection system at the  mills as Canfor says  sometimes,  when they flush their fire system, the water is loaded with silt.

Once the lagoon  is full,  the  material will be  trucked to the  mill sites and  will be  used  as fill.

The site will be fenced, and will have an improved  gate system  to improve security on the site

Area residents are not  too happy with the proposal,  citing concerns the  site  would  become an eyesore in  an area that is  designated  rural  residential.   The landscape plan  calls for a berm  to shield the  site works from the roadway and will  increase some  greenery.

Another  concern was the amount of water the pump might pull from the groundwater and the impact  that might have on  local wells.   Canfor says  the new  treatment plant will mean  the company won’t have to  pull  as much  clean water  from its deep well because it would  have  enough  water  from  the new  system that pulls  and cleans  water from the river.

Councillor Jillian Merrick says she sees this project as a “win win” as it  will be  better for the environment and will draw less water from the ground water. Councillor Albert Koehler  echoed her comments.

What was  clear in  this public hearing is that Canfor should have done more outreach  with the  neighbours   as some complained  they had only heard about the proposal  a little over a week ago.

Council has unanimously supported  the  rezoning.