$400M sewage plan too rich for us: CBRM

Cape Breton regional council has been told it cannot afford to meet a new government requirement to treat wastewater.

A draft federal-provincial strategy for dealing with sewage is expected to be signed early this year. Municipalities will have up to 30 years to comply.

But at a projected cost of $400 million, it simply can't be done, Jerry Ryan, the municipality's chief administrative officer, told council Tuesday night.

"We don't even have the capacity here to respond to this type of a strategy," he said. "We can't move outside of Sydney with anything in terms of wastewater without a strategy that has the funding identified in it. The bulk of our dollar will go to run these facilities. We're just showing you the capital component."

The Cape Breton Regional Municipality has been able to borrow money to meet its share of the cost of several mandated projects, such as water treatment.

But Ryan said there's no cost-sharing arrangement offered for the wastewater strategy. So he's already told government officials the price tag is too high.

"You can't be sending us a letter saying our debt is of concern and then impose a strategy that's going to cost us over $400 million," Ryan said.

The CBRM spends about $13 million annually in debt servicing costs about 15 per cent of its budget.

Coun. Gordon MacLeod is concerned.

"Can the province come in here tomorrow, next week [and]take over the municipality? We're gonna give them the keys? Now that's been said time and time again to me," MacLeod said.

Ryan said the debt is within the level the province deems acceptable. But he warns that won't be the case if the municipality is forced to comply with the new wastewater rules on its own.

Regional council gave Ryan permission to open talks with provincial officials about funding. He plans to invite them to Sydney to hear from council directly about the hardship the new wastewater strategy presents.