Some hope investments in a wastewater treatment plant on the west end of the City of Greater Sudbury will help improve the slimy appearance of lakes further downstream, but a local advocate says that won’t help, ultimately, to remedy historical pollution. algae feed.

The growth of green algae in Simon, McCharles and Mud lakes was facilitated by the large amount of phosphorus left behind by the discharge of raw sewage into Junction Creek in the early 1970s.

David Pearson has lived in Simon Lake for four decades.

He says that the recent An investment of 34 million dollars The Walden wastewater treatment plant will help improve overall quality, but will need to be accompanied by improvements to the downtown Sudbury wastewater treatment plant to make a significant difference.

“The problems don’t start at Simon and McCharles Lake,” said Pearson, an environmental scientist by profession. “They start upstream at Kelly Lake, and that’s the responsibility of the Sudbury processing plant. So it has to go hand in hand.”

Housing needs have prompted recent investment

Shawn Chrétien of the City of Greater Sudbury says the main reason the province invested in the Walden wastewater treatment plant is the need for new housing in the area.

The province suggests the upgrade will increase the capacity of the wastewater treatment system to serve 3,300 new homes.

He says without housing, improving these facilities would not have been a priority.

“We were looking at doing it probably within the next few years, I would say about 10 years, but it wouldn’t have been in a year or two,” he said.

“It would have been very difficult to finance a project of this scale, so this funding represents a tremendous boon for the city.”

He says the improvements will help reduce the amount of phosphorus currently released from the facility, although he says the plant currently releases amounts below the regulated compliance limit.