Metro Vancouver announces independent review of ballooning sewage plant cost

A day after B.C. Premier David Eby mused about an audit of the North Shore sewage treatment plant costs, Metro Vancouver’s chair George Harvie has announced the problem-plagued project will be independently reviewed.

Harvie made the announcement in a press release Tuesday afternoon, stating the review is in response to concerns being voiced about “whether Metro Vancouver is managing costs effectively for the public.”

In March, it was revealed that the cost estimates for construction of the North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant, originally budgeted at $700 million, had ballooned to $3.86 billion.

“We at the Metro Vancouver Board are acutely aware of the concerns around how the updated costs to deliver the North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant Program will impact residents of this region,” said Harvie in the press statement.

Harvie added that Metro Vancouver has had an internal task force investigate the issue, along with three separate cost estimates and an external expert panel that reviewed the process. But those reviews have all taken place behind closed doors and failed to satisfy many politicians or taxpayers – particularly those on the North Shore who are facing a sewage bill of an extra $590 a year for the next 30 years.

Metro Vancouver CAO Jerry Dobrovolny, who has also come under fire for the runaway project costs, added in the statement that he “welcomed” the independent review.

Neither Harvie nor Dobrovolny were available to answer questions on Tuesday.

The review comes just a day after B.C. Premier David Eby said it’s time for Metro Vancouver “to hire an auditor, independent of them, to dig into this and provide a report to everybody” about how costs of the project got so out of control.

“I’ve expressed the province’s concern a few times now about resolving what drove the cost overruns in the North Shore plant,” Eby said, during a stop in North Vancouver, adding the buck stops with Metro Vancouver’s elected officials. “They’re going to have to explain to the people who voted them in how this could be happening,” he said.

“I think it will be very helpful for us to have an independent eye on what’s driven the cost overruns on that particular project, to know what additional steps are required to ensure accountability.”

The decision to mount an independent review also comes amid growing calls for an external audit. Last week a group of Lower Mainland councillors called on B.C.’s auditor general to investigate.

District of North Vancouver Coun. Catherine Pope was one of the first politicians to call for an audit of the project, saying she thinks taxpayers on the North Shore deserve to know what happened.

“I want to know why it took three years for Metro to determine there were serious problems with this project,” she said shortly after the $2.86 billion cost escalation was revealed. “We need to know as taxpayers what went wrong and why.”

Pope said Tuesday she was encouraged by the announcement of a review.

“People deserve accountability,” she said.

Pope said North Shore taxpayers are justifiably upset that they’re being saddled with the lion’s share of a $2.86 billion cost overrun they had nothing to do with – and which Pope said she understands includes significant legal costs.

“It’s grossly unfair what the Metro board has done,” she said.

City of North Vancouver Mayor Linda Buchanan said Monday many of the Metro board discussions around the sewage treatment plant costs have not been unanimous and have taken place behind closed doors, leading to a lack of transparency about the costs, which she has repeatedly advocated for.

Buchanan told CBC Radio Tuesday that her own council has also asked for an independent review of the project.

“I share many, many of the frustrations,” she said during the interview. “People want to have answers.”

Correction note: This story has been amended to correct incorrect information about the original cost estimate for the North Shore Wasetwater Treatment Plant.