Metro Vancouver Regional District delays review of North Shore wastewater treatment plant project until legal battle resolved
The board of directors for Metro Vancouver Regional District has decided to postpone an independent review of the troubled North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant project, citing the need to first resolve ongoing litigation with its former contractor, Acciona.
This delay potentially pushes the independent review for up to a few years.
In a statement Friday, the regional district said the legal dispute, which is set to go to trial in March 2027, must be settled before a meaningful and comprehensive review of the project can take place.
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“After careful consideration, the Board has decided the public interest is best served by resolving the legal dispute with the previous contractor before undertaking the review,” said Mike Hurley, chair of the board of directors for the regional district and the mayor of Burnaby.
The independent review process was first initiated in June 2024, shortly after the regional district first announced the project’s estimated cost had jumped over five times to $3.86 billion. Furthermore, the project will reach completion in 2030 — 10 years later than originally anticipated, with Acciona first beginning major construction in 2018.
The late John J.L. Hunter, K.C., a retired judge and founder of Hunter Litigation Chambers, had previously been appointed to define the review’s scope and terms of reference and oversee the selection of a qualified independent reviewer. Following his death, Randal Kaardal, K.C., a senior litigator at the same firm, has assumed Hunter’s role.
Kaardal reiterated the reasoning behind the Board’s decision: “The litigation is a public process, and once the dispute with the former contractor has been resolved, the Metro Vancouver Board and the reviewer would be in a better position to complete a review on any outstanding questions.”
Conceivably, this new approach — delaying the independent review until after the legal proceedings — also eliminates the risk of the review influencing the court’s eventual ruling. Acciona is suing the regional district for more than $250 million, alleging breaches of contract and wrongful termination, while the regional district is countersuing Acciona for over $1 billion in damages.
January 2025 construction progress on the North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant. (Metro Vancouver Regional District)
Acciona was terminated in 2021 after the regional district accused the company of “abandoning” the project, deeming it incapable of completing the job, producing poor-quality work, and failing to stabilize project costs or adhere to updated timelines. Acciona argued that the regional district’s mid-construction change in scope — particularly the addition of more superior sewage treatment process, known as the tertiary treatment stage — significantly complicated the build, and claimed the North Vancouver site itself near the waterfront was unsuitable for such a facility.
Major construction work restarted this past winter under a new team of contractors led by PCL Construction and AECOM, who also carried out repairs to the facility on work previously performed by Acciona.
The regional district emphasized that it will continue to be transparent about the project’s progress. Monthly construction updates remain available to the public through the regional district’s website.
Over the past year, the greater public, media, and government scrutiny over a wide range of matters relating to the regional district was largely originally triggered by the controversy over the North Shore plant’s woes.
Acciona is also building the new Pattullo Bridge and SkyTrain’s Millennium Line Broadway extension, which are scheduled to reach completion in late 2025 and late 2027, respectively. Aside from some delays, similar issues have not been raised over the construction of these projects for the provincial government.
Artistic rendering of the revised design of North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant. (Metro Vancouver Regional District)
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