The new purpose-built chemical storage container in Granthams Landing has landed.
The embattled container purchased to store six per cent sodium hypochlorite solution for the Church Road Well Field’s Granthams Landing water treatment plant was placed Wednesday morning as neighbours watched on. The Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) stresses that this is a temporary measure.
With Stage 2 water restrictions likely imminent for the Chapman Water System, the SCRD is preparing to bring the well field online, for which they need the solution to treat the water.
Though the treatment plant was only completed last year, the regional district notified neighbours in March that it would be placing the container to store the treatment chemical, which raised local frustrations in a neighbourhood that had already faced disruption from the well field’s construction.
Among neighbours’ concerns were road and chemical safety and visual impact, as well as community consultation.
During a public engagement session held in reaction to public outcry, SCRD manager of infrastructure services Remko Rosenboom admitted an external sodium hypochlorite storage unit wasn’t part of the original well project plan. He also said area residents were not told in advance that the regional government procured the 20-foot shipping container for the site.
At that point, the container’s installation was postponed.
While previously, the SCRD had argued the installation must be permanent, the district has “gone to significant staff effort and additional cost,” to make the container a temporary solution, according to a statement from Jesse Waldorf, SCRD’s capital projects manager. “It will remain in place while the facility is in operation to meet community water needs. Typically this is from Stage 2 through to the return to Stage 1 water conservation regulations.”
Time is needed to set up and deliver materials and equipment, which is why the container was placed this week, said Waldorf.
The container is to store “Eight barrels or the equivalent volume in two totes depending on supplier delivery schedules and product availability,” said Waldorf, and the amount stored isn’t to vary much.
As for long-term plans, “SCRD is currently evaluating options with the community’s concerns in mind,” said Waldorf.
The unit itself and transportation and installation came to about $32,000, according to the SCRD.
As neighbours observed the newly placed container, frustration with SCRD communication, with the eye sore, with the project’s handling in general rose in conversation.
In a press release, the SCRD noted that staff had gone door-to-door earlier this week to notify neighbours that the sea can would be placed, and stressed that “when used and stored properly” the sodium hypochlorite “does not pose a hazard to the community.”
– with files from Connie Jordison
