Latest news with #waterplant
CBC
27-06-2025
- Business
- CBC
Stewiacke slows development pending new water treatment plant
A Colchester County town has created new rules intended to curb a development boom, citing concerns over its aging water treatment plant. Stewiacke Mayor Doug Glasser said the capacity of the current system is unknown. He said the plant is at the end of its lifespan and the measures are needed to uphold the water supply for customers. "We want our community to continue to grow, but we have to do it responsibly," said Glasser, who was acclaimed as mayor of the town of more than 1,500 people in October. Previously, the municipal planning strategy said there was "significant capacity" to support future development. Water advisory However, that has not been the case in recent summers, including this week. On Thursday, the town issued a water-use advisory recommending residents take shorter showers and avoid watering lawns, among other conservation measures. The St. Andrews River, the town's water source, is currently low and when it does rain, silt is stirred up in the river, according to Glasser. "The water that's coming into the system is so murky that we can't treat it fast enough. And the machines that are treating that water, we don't know if they're going to last for another week, a month or a year," the mayor said. Following a public hearing on June 9, council approved amendments to temporarily slow the speed of residential development. There are also new restrictions for commercial uses that are water-intensive, such as car washes and laundromats. Under the rules billed as temporary until a new facility is built, development permits for apartment buildings cannot be issued in the serviced area. There are also new limitations in unserviced areas of the town, with only three lots able to be created from an area of land each calendar year. Joely Killen, owner of Ruby's Way Developments, said she was surprised the slowdown of development was the only option the town considered. The developer has about 10 lots that have been grandfathered in under the old rules, but the changes have curtailed a second phase of nine lots and a third of up to 50. "If the town doesn't have growth, then it starts to die and Stewiacke has just in the last few years started to see that development and is ready for more," said Killen, who also owns Winding River Homes and the local Home Hardware store. "As a developer I'm gonna move outside of Stewiacke into other areas that we own land and maybe I don't invest my money back in Stewiacke," she added. Killen said the move by town council feels contrary to priorities of the provincial and federal governments, which have been fast-tracking construction to deal with the national housing crisis. New facility years away Scott Armstrong, the PC MLA for Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley, said he supports the interim measures, which will have to be approved by the minister of municipal affairs. "One of the issues around growth is you have to have the infrastructure in place, water and sewer being part of that, in order to have new housing, new developments. And we want our communities to continue to grow," he said in an interview. Armstrong said he will voice support for a new water treatment plant once the town makes an application for funding. The town is applying to the Environment Department for a permit to drill a well, rather than continue to rely on the river. Glasser hopes the federal and provincial governments will each contribute a third of the project costs. Still, he said it could be three to five years before a new water treatment plant comes online.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The $67,000,000 Chinese mystery in New Hampshire
(NewsNation) — When a billionaire Chinese businessman and his company quietly purchased a commercial building in Nashua, New Hampshire, to ostensibly set up a water plant, the deal went largely unnoticed. That changed when the purchase price was publicly revealed. The company, Nongfu Spring, is China's largest beverage company. The site is next to the Pennichuck water system and allows the company to use local water for a beverage plant. What's raising eyebrows is the mystery of why the company paid $67 million in cash for a property valued at $15 million. 'Being tied into our Pennichuck water system and taking millions of gallons a day of drinking water from the citizens of Nashua is very concerning,' local resident Bob Lozeau told NewsNation. He says most folks in Nashua didn't know about the sale before it happened. State Senator Kevin Avard, a Republican whose district includes part of Nashua, shared his concerns. 'You have the airport here. You have our water supply they are looking to capture,' he told NewsNation. Chinese-owned farmland in the US raises worries of drone attacks at military bases The building spans 337,000 square feet and is situated on 23 acres. It's close to the Nashua Airport, several defense centers and a Federal Aviation Administration control center. Lily Tang Williams fled communism in China and is now running for Congress in New Hampshire as a Republican. 'I did research in English and Mandarin, which is my first language, and I was just shocked,' Williams told NewsNation's Brian Entin. 'I have been trying to warn people,' she says. 'Xi Jinping has a China dream, and his China dream is to use a soft power invasion. Business. Education. Apps like TikTok and WeChat. Media. Entertainment. Everything they can, without firing one shot, to expand into western countries like the United States.' She says China doesn't want her to discuss what she calls the 'soft power invasion' and the national security concerns associated with projects like the Nongfu Spring plant. We asked her what would happen if she spoke out about it in China. 'I would disappear. I'm afraid if I go back, and I go in, they won't let me go out. I would disappear. They want me to shut up,' she told us. The Nongfu Spring expansion in Nashua isn't the only Chinese investment. A few miles away, a Chinese investor purchased the former campus of what was Daniel Webster College. The 50-acre site was sold for $14 million about seven years ago, but it is mostly abandoned today. The mayor of Nashua, Jim Donchess, says the investor paid double what the property was worth. Behind California's underground baby industry bringing Chinese women to the US We asked him why Nongfu Spring would pay more than four times the assessed value for the property by the water plant. 'It's very weird. Why they would do that, I have no idea,' he said. The mayor says he's not against the project, and he doesn't believe there are any national security concerns. The city owns the Pennichuck Corporation water system itself, and the mayor says the city would never consider selling the water company. But he, like everyone else in Nashua, is still wondering why Nongfu Spring paid so much for the property. 'It's very puzzling as to why that would happen,' he said. Nongfu Spring has not yet responded to NewsNation requests for comment. We will update this story if they do. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Independent
27-05-2025
- General
- The Independent
Virginia's capital is under a boil-water advisory after more water treatment operations issues
Officials issued a boil-water advisory Tuesday in parts of Virginia's capital city, leaving many residents without drinkable tap water following an operational issue at the city's water treatment plant for the second time this year. Richmond officials said that the city's water treatment plant experienced an operational hiccup that clogged some of the plant's filters. In the morning, the water system had been restored to full production, but reclogged roughly an hour later. Large swaths of the city, spanning Richmond's west end to downtown by the Capitol, and its northern neighborhoods, were under the advisory. In a news release, officials said all residents were asked to conserve water. Richmond Mayor Danny Avula said in a statement he would examine what caused the clogging and identify any future improvements at the water treatment facility. The boil-water advisory follows a nearly week-long period in January when approximately 230,000 Richmond residents were without drinkable tap water after a power failure caused a malfunction at the water treatment facility. In April, the Virginia Department of Health released a report saying the crisis was avoidable, pointing to city officials' poor emergency planning and faulty maintenance practices.
Associated Press
27-05-2025
- General
- Associated Press
Virginia's capital is under a boil-water advisory after more water treatment operations issues
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Officials issued a boil-water advisory Tuesday in parts of Virginia's capital city, leaving many residents without drinkable tap water following an operational issue at the city's water treatment plant for the second time this year. Richmond officials said that the city's water treatment plant experienced an operational hiccup that clogged some of the plant's filters. In the morning, the water system had been restored to full production, but reclogged roughly an hour later. Large swaths of the city, spanning Richmond's west end to downtown by the Capitol, and its northern neighborhoods, were under the advisory. In a news release, officials said all residents were asked to conserve water. Richmond Mayor Danny Avula said in a statement he would examine what caused the clogging and identify any future improvements at the water treatment facility. The boil-water advisory follows a nearly week-long period in January when approximately 230,000 Richmond residents were without drinkable tap water after a power failure caused a malfunction at the water treatment facility. In April, the Virginia Department of Health released a report saying the crisis was avoidable, pointing to city officials' poor emergency planning and faulty maintenance practices.
