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Trans Mountain to contribute funds for infrastructure upgrades

The company signed an agreement with the District committing $3.1 million
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Construction is underway to upgrade Clearwater’s water facilities. Large equipment have broken ground on the Old N. Thompson Hwy. (District of Clearwater photo)

A new agreement between Trans Mountain and the District of Clearwater will see a contribution of $3.1 million towards upgrades for Clearwater’s water systems.

“Trans Mountain has been an absolutely stellar corporate citizen to us,” said Mayor Merlin Blackwell.

“We are excited about the many legacy projects Trans Mountain is partnering with us on, many of which will help us now with some important safety and infrastructure needs but will then provide us future opportunity to grow our local economy and to improve the quality of life for our citizens.”

The funds will be used for the construction, operation and maintenance of the infrastructure upgrades of the drinking, wastewater managment and sewer treatment systems, which are necessary to service the Trans Mountain Expansion Project’s worker accommodation camp. They are expected to take about three months.

The camp will hold about 550 people during construction in the area, which is scheduled from September 2020 to late 2022, and is operated on land owned by the Thompson-Nicola Regional District. The site will be operated by Tsetsk’wem Management Services, a joint venture agreements between Simpcw Resource Group and ATCO, which was made specifially for the project.

In a recent press release, Trans Mountain said they are committed to providing benefits for the community throughout the expansion project. Their North Thompson office is in Clearwater.

“When we began planning the expansion project, we made a commitment to work with communities to minimize the impact of construction to minimize the impact of construction activity and maximize the long-term benefits for local communities,” said Ian Anderson, president and CEO of Trans Mountain.

The project will see nearly $900,000 in local taxes annually after its completion. In addition, it was announced in 2015 that $390,000 would go towards funding community projects and local education and training in the community.

“The District is very thankful and appreciative of the development of a funding agreement to complete the necessary infrastructure improvements for our water and sewer systems to be able to serve the Trans Mountain camp,” said Leslie Groulx, DOC Chief Administrative Officer.

“These three projects alone will fast track our infrastructure upgrades the equivalent of 10 years, and that is assuming we were successful in applying for grants to fund and complete them.

“It has been a pleasure working with the team at Trans Mountain this past six years to bring this to fruition.”