The North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant under construction in North Vancouver, B.C., in October, 2021. Construction was initially approved by Metro Vancouver’s board in 2013 with a $700-million price tag and an estimated completion date of 2020.DARRYL DYCK/The Globe and Mail
Duelling lawsuits involving the construction of a Vancouver-area wastewater treatment plant that is years late and billions of dollars over budget have been settled.
But municipal politicians in the communities in Metro Vancouver’s North Shore are demanding full disclosure of all financial documents surrounding the construction and the agreement, saying the settlement leaves unanswered questions as to how the project became so bloated and delayed.
“The public deserves answers,” said City of North Vancouver Mayor Linda Buchanan, in an interview last Thursday.
On average, North Shore residents are facing a $590-a-year increase in costs per household for the next 30 years as a result of the project, according to a recent update to taxpayers from Ms. Buchanan and District of North Vancouver Mayor Mike Little.
A settlement agreement was reached between Metro Vancouver and Acciona Wastewater Solutions LP last Wednesday that will see the Spanish company pay $235-million to the Greater Vancouver Sewerage and Drainage District.
But while the settlement ends the litigation, it doesn’t halt the long history of the troubled project.
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Construction of the North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant was initially approved by Metro Vancouver’s board in 2013 with a $700-million price tag and an estimated completion date of 2020.
In 2019, the project was renegotiated, and the deadline extended after a geotechnical report revealed unexpected issues with the soil on the site, located on former BC Rail land near Burrard Inlet.
The pandemic slowed things down further.
Problems with the project came to a head in the fall of 2021, when Metro Vancouver moved to terminate its contract with Acciona, stating that the company had “underperformed” and consistently failed to meet project deadlines and budgets.
Acciona countered by launching a lawsuit against Metro Vancouver for $250-million. The company stated that it was “impossible” to build on the site as selected without significant changes to the project agreement. These changes were needed, Acciona claimed, because it had discovered “rampant errors and conflicts” in Metro Vancouver’s design and construction specifications.
The company also claimed that Metro officials had interfered with various aspects of the project, including its financing contracts and Acciona’s performance of its design and construction obligations.
Metro Vancouver countersued, denying the accusations of interference in a statement of claim that alleged delays to the project were caused by Acciona’s own breaches of the project agreement, as well as “negligence and incompetence,” among other things.
An independent review of the project, which stalled in 2024 because of the continuing litigation, will now proceed.
In March, 2024, Metro Vancouver announced the project would be taken over by PCL Construction. The new completion date is 2030 and the new cost estimate is $3.86-billion, more than five times the original estimate.
The case had been scheduled to go to court in 2027.
“The North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant Program is one of the most important projects currently underway for the health and well-being of this region, and we are very aware of residents’ concerns about the project,” Mike Hurley, chair of the Metro Vancouver Boards of Directors, said in a statement last Wednesday.
“It is important to us at Metro Vancouver to have a thorough, independent review of this project so our residents get the transparency they deserve.”
Mr. Hurley’s statement said the review would be independent and would look at all of Metro Vancouver’s project documents.
“The independent reviewers are expected to look into the program’s history, finances, governance, and delivery. They will also provide recommendations to support the delivery of future major infrastructure projects,” the statement said.
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But Ms. Buchanan, an early critic of the project, is calling for the release of more information, including detailed cost breakdowns, what the final tax burden will be on area households and what the long-term financial outlook is for the North Shore Sewerage Area.
District of North Vancouver city councillor Catherine Pope, who has long advocated for a public inquiry, said the assurances by Mr. Hurley regarding an independent review are vague.
“He didn’t say that they’re going to pick up where the last one left off, or that that work that’s already been done for a year between 2024 and 2025 will be used. He’s just saying the board will discuss how they’re going to do a new independent review,” said Ms. Pope. “Again – lack of transparency, lack of a clear outlined plan.”
Matti Siemiatycki, a professor of geography and planning at the University of Toronto, said there are many kinds of independent reviews and the process matters. For example, is it run by a third-party consultant or a law firm; will it be a public inquiry under oath that is presided over by a judge or auditor-general; or is it something else?
A judge or auditor can be a crucial tool for uncovering necessary details and increasing the accountability of those involved, he said.
When asked how robust that review would be and what form it would take, Jillian Glover, a media relations representative for Metro Vancouver, stated by e-mail that “we are not able to make further comments regarding the settlement with Acciona.”
Ms. Pope has said she would like to see an arm’s-length review that is completely separate from Metro Vancouver, with an auditor-general appointed by the province.
“That is the only way we’re going to get to the bottom of what went wrong,” she said.
Sarah Zaharia, Acciona’s director of communications for North America, stated by e-mail that the company’s position is that “resolving this matter avoids potentially years of prolonged litigation and ongoing costs.” The settlement “reflects a negotiated resolution between the parties without any admission of liability,” she added.
In 2025, The Globe and Mail found that Metro Vancouver was spending almost $4-million a year in legal fees, double what it had projected a few years earlier.
Metro Vancouver said in its statement from last week that it plans to return the settlement funds to the wastewater project to reduce its costs, and that further details would be determined as part of its 2027 budgeting process.
However, both Ms. Buchanan and Ms. Pope are advocating for the $235-million settlement be instead used to reduce costs for North Shore residents.
“It should be allocated to North Shore taxpayers who have been unfairly saddled with much significantly higher utility bills than the rest of Metro Vancouver residents,” said Ms. Pope.
The new plant will replace the existing Lions Gate Wastewater Treatment Plant and when complete, it will serve more than 300,000 residents in the North Shore area. This includes the Districts of North and West Vancouver, as well as the City of North Vancouver and members of both the Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations.
North Shore residents make up just 8 per cent of Metro Vancouver’s population but are shouldering 37 per cent of the project’s costs, according to Ms. Buchanan and Mr. Little.
“How do we solve this issue? How do we bring all those different perspectives to the table and find a new path forward?” said Ms. Buchanan. “At the end of the day, it’s making sure that everything we’re doing is transparent.”