Upgrades to the Water Treatment Plant and Sewage Lagoon

Summary
The water treatment plant and sewage lagoon have been operating beyond their capacity for several years, preventing any new construction in the community. Upgrades to the sewage lagoon will begin this month with completion scheduled for March 2023. The water treatment plant has a project completion date of November 2024.

Information Update from Chief Cheechoo
February 12, 2022

After I took office as Chief in July 2019, I was made aware that the Moose Factory water treatment plant and sewage lagoon have been operating beyond their capacity for several years and were in urgent need of upgrades and improvement.

As reported to Membership in previous reports, this problem not only represents a potential health issue for all Moose Factory Island residents, but it is also preventing any new construction in the community. Moose Cree First Nation cannot build any additional new houses and all other construction projects are also on hold. I also informed other local organizations of this issue.

I decided that the number one priority for this term needs to be the completion of the upgrades to the water treatment plant and sewage lagoon as it is a health matter and it is affecting the work of all other MCFN departments and placing various projects on hold. The Council agreed with me and we decided to place it at the top of the list on our strategic plan.

I would like to make sure everyone knows that while there is a need to upgrade the water treatment plant, Moose Factory Island’s water supply is safe for drinking. As per normal practice, it is regularly monitored by the Ontario Clean Water Agency.

Over the past two years I have been directing Executive Services and the Public Works department to ensure there is finally some progress with the badly needed upgrades.

I have also asked the Director of Public Works to meet with Council once a month to provide us with an update on the progress of the work and to ensure it stays on schedule.

I am happy to report to the Membership that things have been moving as we planned for both projects.

The successful bidder for the work on the sewage lagoon is Accurate HD, an engineering and construction firm based in Manitoba that have done these kinds of projects all over Canada for years. Local Membership that are interested in applying for various jobs with Accurate HD for the duration of the project can send their resumes to Keith Couture, Director of Publics Works at [email protected].

The work on the upgrades to the sewage lagoon will begin this month and will take just over a year with completion scheduled for March 2023. Two Moose Cree members are currently being trained and will eventually be certified to operate the new sewage lagoon.

The plan to upgrade the water treatment plant is still in development. A design engineer and project manager will be hired in March 2022, these individuals will then work on the tender for construction and other financial and administrative details. The Ontario Clean Water Agency will also be involved throughout the process.

The new water treatment plant will be designed based on projected population growth of Moose Factory Island for the next twenty years and will have more than adequate capacity.

The tender for construction of a new water treatment plant will be released in January 2023 with a project completion date of November 2024.

The total cost of the upgrades to the water treatment plant and the sewage lagoon will be approximately $51 million. The funding is being provided by Indigenous Services Canada and the Canada Infrastructure Program.

I must commend Keith Couture, the new Director of Public Works. He’s been doing a great job since starting in the position in August 2021; he has decades of experience in working on major infrastructure projects and I am thankful for his efforts and for the efforts of the Public Works Committee.

Abel Wapachee was the previous Director of Public Works, he retired last year. I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank Abel for doing years of hard work on setting up the financing with government departments and for starting the work on selecting the engineering and construction firms, a process that Keith will be completing. Thanks Abel and I hope you are enjoying your retirement!

I look forward to receiving monthly updates from Keith at future Council meetings and I will continue to provide updates to the Membership as the projects proceed. I also look forward to the completion of these projects as we will finally be able to move forward together on a number of important initiatives and projects for the Membership of Moose Cree First Nation.

If you have any questions about the projects please send an email to: or .