Residents raise voices to council

Reaction was mixed to the findings presented by the Town of Gander at a public meeting held last Thursday in the council chambers stemming from its investigation into how two cases of widespread flooding occurred in less than a week.

"I felt a little disappointed coming out of the meeting," said Connie Burton, whose parents' home on Peterson Drive was flooded twice during heavy rainfalls in late August.

They have lived there 35 years, and Ms. Burton said they are all wondering why this never happened before.

Grant Horwood, director of municipal works and services for the Town, gave a presentation to an audience of 40 alongside Town staff and members of council. He said the significance of the rainfall hinged on its intensity.

According to Environment Canada, 71 millimetres of rain fell on Aug. 23-24 and 54 mm on Aug. 30.

Comparing the rainfall records with the Rainfall Intensity Atlas for Atlantic Canada, Mr. Horwood said the Town estimated the rainfall from Aug. 23-24 to be a one-in-25 year event. According to Environment Canada, 40 of the 71 mm that came down on Aug. 23-24 did so within three hours.

In many cases, water came up through the floor drains of homes on Peterson Drive, Edinburgh Avenue, Pinedo Road, Yeager Street, Bennett Drive, Hornell Street, Raynham Avenue and Medcalf Street as a result of the tropical storms.

The area with the most affected parties was Peterson Drive and Edinburgh Avenue. That area is served by a combined sewer system collecting both sanitary sewer and weeping tile runoff. According to Mr. Horwood, this results in high peak flows during storm events.

The Beaverwood Plant, which serves that area, has a daily capacity of 21 million gallons per day. Having anticipated the inclement weather, Mr. Horwood said the Town opened gates there on Aug. 23 at 9:30 p.m. and Aug. 30 at 9 a.m. to provide a by-pass for excess water.

During both storms, he said Town staff found the main line to be at full capacity, increasing upstream pressure. Peterson Drive's sewer system is situated at the lowest point in the south area of Gander, which Mr. Horwood said makes it most susceptible to back-up. Edinburgh Avenue's is the second lowest, he said.

Investigations were performed on sewer lines in the area with cameras. Lines along Peterson Drive and Edinburgh Avenue had some debris and tree roots. While they could have con tributed to some "minor back-up," Mr. Horwood said the debris would not have been the only reason for the entire back-up.

Divers contracted to inspect the trunk sewer connecting Edinburgh Avenue to the Beaverwood Plant found no major deficiencies in the pipe.

A similar test on the trunk sewer between Peterson Drive and the plant found the main trunk line is not large enough to carry all incoming flow when branch lines are full.

Storm re-creation

Based on a re-creation of the events of Aug. 23-24 using Town estimates of water flow through the sewer system, it determined roof runoff contributed to over 60 per cent of the capacity of the sewer main line on Peterson Drive and 27 per cent of the flows in the trunk main line.

This problem, Mr. Horwood said, relates to water accumulating too quickly into the sewer system.

The weeping tile, a perforated pipe surrounding the footing of a house, accepts groundwater in order to keep it from rising above the footing of a home.

In older parts of Gander, Mr. Horwood said water drains directly into the sanitary sewer, unlike in newer areas, where water from weeping tiles go into the storm sewer.

If a downspout is directly connected to a weeping tile, runoff from the roof will be instaneous.

To deal with this, a new bylaw is being considered by council that would prohibit homeowners from having a direct or indirect connection from roof water downspouts to a building storm or sanitary sewer system.

The bylaw is going through a second reading, and will be voted on at the next council meeting on Nov. 4.

According to a recent survey conducted by the Town, over 20 per cent of homes on Peterson Drive had downspouts directly connected to the weeping tile, with 7.3 per cent connected on Edinburgh Avenue.

Mr. Horwood said even a reduction in direct roof runoff may not eliminate overloading of the trunk sewer in the event of a major storm.

An increase in the size of the trunk sewer line may also be required he said. Council is in the early stages of creating its new budget, and Mayor Claude Elliott told people at the meeting they would look into this during the budget process.

Additionally, Mr. Horwood said backwash discharge from the new Water Treatment Plant on Armstrong Boulevard is presently being directed into the sanitary sewer. That discharge was estimated to be 7.5 per cent of the capacity of the trunk line. He said this can be re-directed to the storm sewer in the future.

Before any major upgrades occur, he said the Town must further study wastewater flows in the combined sewer system to get a more accurate picture.

In the long-term, Mr. Horwood said the Town's plans for a new wastewater treatment plant to serve the whole community will greatly benefit it in the future.

Meeting reaction

Gretchen Hansen-Oake, whose family lives on Peterson Drive, said she was pleased to see the meeting happen, and was happy to hear the Town offer its take on what happened and provide some solutions.

"I was pleased with the report that was presented - it was fair and clear, and I hope to see some results from it soon," she said.

Ms. Burton, on the other hand, felt the solutions did not offer enough to ease her overall concerns.

"The long-term goals seem to have a lot more merit behind them, but they are long-term ones, and it might prove too long for these people to wait," she said.

Her parent's home was affected by both rainfalls, with damage estimated at $35,000. She was there by herself at the time, with water pouring in at around 1 a.m. on Aug. 24. Ms. Burton called the Town's 24-hour emergency line several times and kept getting an answering machine. At 4:30 a.m. the water was instantly sucked out from the basement.

The fact this happened in multiple homes, as was evident from voices at the meeting, had many there wondering whether the gates were opened when the Town said they were.

"I would like to hear more from the actual person who opened the gates," she said.

Meanwhile, those who were affected in August wonder whether they may have to deal with this all over again before the Town can tackle long-term planning.

"It's very troubling to see my parents, as home-owners, have their security taken away ... there's a constant fear this is going to happen again."

For Ms. Hansen-Oake, more flooding is not an option. The first go around did over $60,000 in damage, and she has already been told by her insurance provider that if another flood occurs, her family will lose its coverage.

"If something like this does happen again, I'm in big trouble," she said.

The report prepared by Mr. Horwood, once it receives approval from council, will be passed on to the Town's insurance provider, who will then determine if it is liable for damages.

Other areas

For Yeager Street, Mr. Horwood recommended the 18-inch culvert crossing Magee Road at Rotary Park be replaced by a 36-inch one, which will also benefit future development. The final phase of development is already set to begin.

Increasing capacity of the storm sewer system crossing Magee Road at the T'Railway should also be considered, he said. Additionally, he suggested the storm sewer for the Yeager Street extension should not be connected to the existing system.

On Bennett Drive, the main line between houses 54 and 62 was found to be not large enough to carry incoming flow if all branch lines are full. An attempt to do a camera inspection was thwarted by a rusted-out section of pipe. Mr. Howood said further inspection of the service lines is necessary before any recommendations can be made for the area.

On Hornell Street, grate openings will be increased, and the drainage ditch between the street and Scott Place will be cleaned to reduce debris piling up, as will the one downstream from the culvert crossing at Cooper Boulevard.

Further inspections are planned for Rayhnam Avenue, where some cases of storm sewer back-up was reported, as is the case for Medcalf Street, where some tree roots were found to be causing some obstruction. Mr. Horwood suggested that tree should be removed.