It’s a project that’s been in the works for at least the past three years and it’s finally come to fruition.
Ground was broken Monday (April 30th) at the first of many homes along the LaHave River as part of the much needed LaHave Straight Pipe Replacement Program.
the project will see upwards of 600 straight pipes replaced with proper septic systems and according to Lunenburg MLA, Suzanne Lohnes-Croft, it’s been a long haul to get to this point.
“It’s wonderful to see that the new council has taken this forward to this point that now we’re going to have septics placed and it just shows that perseverance pays off,” says Lohens-Croft.
Member of Parliament for South Shore-St. Margaret’s, Bernadette Jordan, says to finally get the project rolling is a demonstration of the Government’s commitment to the environment.
“We’re committed to making sure that we do look for green energy, look for ways to green our economy and of course, cleaning up a major waterway in this area was very important to me, it was something that I committed to during the election campaign,” Jordan tells CKBW News.
For years, raw sewage has flowed directly from homes into the LaHave River and now work is finally being done fix that.
Carolyn Bolivar-Getson, Mayor of the Municipality of the District of Lunenburg, says the cost will be shared by both Government and homeowners.
“The first tenders that we went out for came in at around $11,000 to $12,000 per system; the cost will be a third by the Federal Government, a third by the Provincial Government and the remainder (of the cost) is bourne by the resident,” says Bolivar-Getson.
So far, 20 homes have been tendered and approved, with 100 more applications in waiting.
The goal is to have the LaHave River free of straight pipes by 2023 and roughly 75 to 100 replaced this year alone.
Above Photo: Contributed