Lacombe Lake (Photo: Anita Alexander)

By Troy Gillard

Town of Blackfalds given approval

Appeal filed over approval of Blackfalds’ Lacombe Lake stormwater plan

Aug 17, 2020 | 3:18 PM

An appeal has been filed over an Alberta Environment and Parks decision last month to approve a project that will allow the Town of Blackfalds to drain stormwater into Lacombe Lake.

The approval under the Water Act for the North West Stormwater Management Plan was granted on July 15. The project would see rain water from new developments in Blackfalds transported through underground pipelines to a stormwater management facility for treatment before being discharged to Lacombe Lake, Whelp Brook and Wolf Creek.

Blackfalds Mayor Richard Poole has said the project is important for the growth of the town and surrounding region and is one that exceeds provincial environmental standards.

An appeal has been filed by Ecojustice, a group billing itself as Canada’s largest environmental law charity, on behalf of Anita Alexander, whose family has owned property at Lacombe Lake since 1960. Alexander has long been a vocal opponent of the project.

“I’ve been swimming in Lacombe Lake for 60 years now. In that time, I’ve watched moose swim across the lake, gazed at fireflies, listened to loons and watched them playing in the water. My mother, who is now 101, lived here until she was 100 years old,” shared Alexander. “Places this special are few and far between. That’s why, together with Ecojustice, I am fighting to prevent stormwater from causing permanent and irreversible damage to this place that I love.”

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Opponents of the plan have expressed concerns over the “blasting” of stormwater into Lacombe Lake, saying it would raise water levels by as much as 35 per cent, increase temperatures in the water and ultimately irreparably damage the lake.

Ecojustice lawyer Barry Robinson says the plan threatens water quality, local wildlife, and the ability to enjoy the lake for recreational purposes.

“Urban stormwater runoff contains metals, salts, nutrients, oil, grease, and bacteria. The decision to approve the stormwater plan was made without a proper analysis of how these substances could contaminate the lake,” he said. “This is just one example of how Alberta continues to use the province’s few wetlands and lakes as catchments for urban stormwater.””

Ecojustice and Alexander claim that the province failed to identify an adequate outlet for the stormwater management system, and that the Town of Blackfalds failed to present an analysis and modelling of stormwater quality in accordance with the province’s Stormwater Management Guidelines.

They also claim the applicant (Blackfalds) failed to provide an analysis of the risk of oil, grease and other hydrocarbon contamination to Lacombe Lake, and that the province failed to consider the lack of such analysis in granting its approval.

In addition, their appeal claims the province’s designated director, Todd Aasen, “erred in failing to require monitoring that would determine the quality of stormwater discharging into Lacombe Lake.”

Alexander says it’s in the public’s interest that the approval be stayed before “permanent and irreversible” changes are made to the lake and surrounding environment.

A hearing date for the appeal has not yet been scheduled.