Town of Erin Urban Centre Wastewater Servicing Class Environmental Assessment

The Town of Erin will conduct a feasibility study to determine the optimal wastewater collection and treatment system to meet provincial wastewater and controlled river discharge regulations, and allow for population growth. The town is experiencing growth pressure due to its location on the fringe of the Greater Toronto Area and the Provincial Greenbelt. Located within the West Credit River watershed which is a cold water fishery, the town is currently serviced by municipal water and private sewage systems. Existing private sewage systems are aging past their intended service life and many of the lots in the urban areas are too small to accommodate replacement systems that meet current Ontario Building Code standards. As a result, the town completed a Servicing and Settlement Master Plan (SSMP) in 2014 which included Phases 1 and 2 of the municipal Class Environmental Assessment (EA) process. The SSMP recommended the installation of a municipal wastewater collection and treatment system. There is currently a development freeze in place for large development proposals until the town completes Phases 3 to 5 of the Class EA process for wastewater servicing which this feasibility study will satisfy. A municipal wastewater system will eliminate nearly 1,500 septic systems that are uncontrolled non-point sources of pollution to groundwater and surface water. Furthermore, a municipal sewage system will allow new growth to occur with a population increase of approximately 1,500 people or 500 homes. Specifically, the study will: • Identify and evaluate alternative sewage collection system technologies, design concepts, and potential locations against social, economic and environmental impacts. • In addition to wastewater treatment regulatory indicators, consider environmental performance indicators such as vehicle fuel consumption and vehicle kilometers travelled. • Explore a typical approach where specific technologies are selected during the Class EA. • Explore a performance based approach where the Class EA would identify processes and not specific technologies that would allow the sanitary collection and treatment system to meet performance criteria (flow rate, raw sewage concentrations, effluent concentrations, etc.). • Explore the potential for utilizing alternative financing procurement/public private partnerships (P3) with Infrastructure Ontario. Capital project implementation will depend on its debt carrying capacity and as a result, the financial analysis will be a critical component of this feasibility study. • Complete an Environmental Study Report (ESR) for the project and place the ESR on the public record for comment. (Project description from original funding application)