Halifax sewage treatment back on line

Harbour sea life breathed a sigh of relief Thursday with news that the Halifax wastewater treatment plant is back on line once more and functioning as it should.
Halifax Regional Municipality Mayor Peter Kelly welcomed the
announcement.
"This is great news for residents and visitors alike," he said.
"With all three plants of Harbour Solutions now operational, we can
look forward to the cleanest water our harbour has known in
generations."
The Mayor paid tribute to residents for the support they have shown
during the past 17 months of the plant's recommissioning.
"Their patience and understanding has gone a long way in making
everyone's job easier during this difficult time," he said.
The Mayor noted that the recommissioning of the plant was timely, given
how busy the Halifax-Dartmouth waterfronts were becoming with the
arrival of the tourist season and the presence this week of more than
5,000 international sailors and their ships, celebrating the Canadian
navy's 100 birthday.
The $55-million Halifax plant went down in January, 2009, after only a
few weeks of operation when a power failure caused catastrophic
flooding.
The facility is part of the $333-million Harbour Solutions to treat
sewage before it flows into the harbour, the second largest natural
harbour in the world. Two other new plants - in Dartmouth and Herring
Cove - have been treating sewage for some time now without incident.
Harbour Solutions is the largest capital project in the community's
history.
Mayor Kelly praised the staff of Halifax Water, D&D Construction and
its subcontractors for their dedicated work in recommissioning the
Halifax plant.
He added that he was looking forward to metro beaches at the Dingle and
Black Rock reopening to public swimming shortly. Halifax Water staff
will be monitoring water quality to check on the plant's performance.
When the Halifax plant first opened in 2009, water quality in the area
achieved safe levels in about three days.