Over $4 Million From The Green Municipal Fund Helps The Town Of Stephenville Construct A Combined Sewer/Wetlands Treatment System

President Wayne Ruth of Municipalities Newfoundland & Labrador (MNL), representing FCM, and the Honourable Loyola Hearn, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and Minister Responsible for Newfoundland and Labrador, representing the Honourable Gary Lunn, Minister of Natural Resources, announced today a $1.6 million Green Municipal Fund grant and $2.8 million loan to help the Town of Stephenville construct a sewer and engineered biological wetland treatment system that will provide primary and secondary wastewater treatment. The design includes a series of lined treatment beds filled with soil or granular material and planted reeds. Once the reeds are established, sewage is biologically degraded as effluent flows through the beds.

The main zone will accommodate 100 per cent of the municipality’s treatment requirements with a buffer for future flows and space allocation for additional beds to allow for future expansion. Stephenville will create a Pilot Regional Sludge Treatment Centre to explore the treatment beds’ capacity to accept sludge from other sites.

“This pilot project, the first one of its kind in Atlantic Canada, is an example of our commitment to invest taxpayers’ dollars in real projects that achieve real results for a clean environment,” said Minister Hearn. “Through the Green Municipal Fund, the Government of Canada and municipalities can pool their efforts to find solutions to use less and live better.”

“FCM’s Green Municipal Fund offers a range of resources and services that specifically address the sustainable community development needs of municipal governments,” said MNL President Wayne Ruth, who serves also as Mayor of the Town of Kippens. “The financing and knowledge provided by the Fund supports the development of communities that are more environmentally, socially and economically sustainable.”

“The sludge treatment component is the first of its kind in Atlantic Canada,” said Mayor Tom O’Brien. “Abydoz Environmental Inc. will design, construct and operate the engineered wetland, known as the Kickuth BioReactor Engineered Wetland, and the sludge treatment system. The sludge will be accumulated and retained on-site until it can be disposed of as stable degradable biomass, usually a period of eight to 10 years.”

The Government of Canada has endowed the Federation of Canadian Municipalities with $550 million to establish and manage the Green Municipal Fund. The Fund supports partnerships and leveraging of both public and private sector funding to reach higher standards of air, water and soil quality, and climate protection.


FCM has been the national voice of municipal governments since 1901. It fosters sustainable communities enjoying a high quality of life by promoting strong, effective, and accountable municipal government.

Information:

Town of Stephenville, NL

Barry Coates
Town Manager
Town of Stephenville
125 Carolina Avenue
Stephenville, Newfoundland
A2N 2Z5
Tel: 709-643-8366
Cell: 709-649-7023
Email: manager@town.stephenville.nf.ca

Green Municipal Fund

Lucille Hodgins
Manager, Community Liaison
Green Municipal Fund
Centre for Sustainable Community Development
Federation of Canadian Municipalities
Tel: 613-907-6299
Cell: 613-447-0051
Fax: 613-244-1515
E-mail: lhodgins@fcm.ca

Natural Resources Canada

Kathleen Olson
Acting Director of Communications
Minister’s Office
Natural Resources Canada
Tel: 613-996-2007
Fax: 613-943-0663

For information on the Town of Stephenville, NL, visit http://www.town.stephenville.nf.ca

For information on the Green Municipal Fund, including details of other approved projects and studies, visit http://www.sustainablecommunities.fcm.ca

For information on Natural Resources Canada, visit http://nrcan-rncan.gc.ca

For information on Environment Canada, visit http://www.ec.gc.ca