These "temporary" sewage treatment plants were supposed to be gone from Lake Okanagan Resort six years ago but are still being used and still polluting their nearby sewage disposal fields.

(ROB MUNRO / iNFOnews.ca)

The once spectacular Lake Okanagan Resort has been recently fined almost $50,000 by the province for a series of violations to its permits to discharge sewage effluent.

The owners, 1782 Holdings Ltd., have two “temporary” sewage treatment plants in trailers located in the parking lot between the Lakeview and Valleyview complexes perched above the Tiki Bar on the shore of Okanagan Lake.

“1782 Holdings Ltd. were aware as early as 2013 that they were exceeding the B.C. Approved Water Quality Guidelines for total nitrogen and total phosphorus,” one of five reports posted on the provincial Natural Resources Compliance and Enforcement Database, said.

From 2014 to 2020, Lake Okanagan Resort exceeded the guidelines 85 times by 13% to 1,520% with 81 of the exceedances being more than 50%.

There's no indication the pollutants entered Okanagan Lake itself but the disposal ground for the sewage is above the shore, just south of the Tiki Bar, which is designated as a “red zone of concern” for shore spawning kokanee salmon. That means it’s an area where a significant number of kokanee spawned in recent years.

READ MORE: Lake Okanagan Resort: Rapid decay and glory days

All five fines were issued, July 12, with the most expensive being for $20,000 for the 85 incidents of exceeding permits.

The reports outline the history of the resort’s sewage problems and shows a pattern of refusing to do anything about it.

It starts with a report completed by Golder and Associates in February 2013, that showed the result of groundwater sampling done in 2012.

All the groundwater samples showed levels of nitrate and phosphorus above guideline levels, the Ministry of Environment report said.

Rather than fix the treatment system, the resort suggested it relocate the disposal fields. The Ministry agreed but the relocation never happened.

Continued sampling showed continued pollution so in 2016, the resort proposed to install two “temporary containerized membrane bioreactor wastewater treatment plants” for the peak season in 2016.

The Ministry agreed with the understanding a new treatment plant would be built and the temporary units would be removed by the end of 2016.

They’re still there.

The temporary sewage treatment plants are behind the white building, which is above the Tiki Bar.

(ROB MUNRO / iNFOnews.ca)

In 2019, it was recommended that a “denitrification barrier wall (sawdust)” be installed. That was not done.

The Ministry received a report on discharges for the period from July 21, 2014 to Feb. 22, 2016, but not until Oct. 14, 2021. It showed 19 nitrogen and 20 phosphorous exceedances. The resort stopped reporting after that and didn’t start again until early 2019.

“Despite repeated commitments to upgrade their treatment works, and repeated groundwater reports prepared by qualified professionals on behalf of 1782 Holdings Ltd. highlighting increasing downgradient concentrations of total nitrogen and phosphorous, 1782 Holdings Ltd. has made no efforts to achieve compliance,” the report said.

The second most expensive penalty was for $12,500 for continuing to run the “temporary” treatment plants.

“1782 Holdings Ltd. has failed to maintain the authorized works in good working order for six years,” that report said. “For the past five years, 1782 Holdings Ltd. has been operating a temporary wastewater treatment system associated with the Lakeview complex, despite being approved for use during 2016 only.”

An $8,870 penalty was levied on Lake Okanagan Resort for not paying earlier fines and not posting a security of $109,000.

A $4,500 fine was imposed for never developing and maintaining manuals for its sewage collection and treatment system since at least 2015.

“Failure to maintain both an operational and a maintenance manual interferes with the Ministry’s ability to protect the environment,” that report said. “The Ministry has repeatedly found that the water treatment system is not being maintained in good working order and there is potential for impacts to the receiving environment foreshore area, which is a red zone area of concern for shore spawning kokanee."

A $2,000 fine was issued for not filing reports, as required, in 2020 and 2021.

Those five penalties add up to a total of $47,870.

The five posted documents refer to numerous other penalties levied over the years amounting to tens of thousands of dollars. It’s not clear if any of those were paid.

This past spring, Constantine Nip, the new general manager of the resort, told iNFOnews.ca he was trying to turn the place around.

READ MORE: Trying to make Lake Okanagan Resort exciting again

Nip contacted the Ministry when the penalties were first levied in February 2022 and asked to appeal, the Ministry of Environment reports said.

Lawyers for Lake Okanagan Resort told the Ministry the fines should be lowered because they had “taken steps to begin the process of permanently repairing or replacing the wastewater treatment facilities,” and had a memorandum of understanding with a new firm to take over operation and upgrading of the treatment plants.

The Ministry didn’t budge when its rulings were issued, July 12.

“I find that the reasons provided by 1782 Holdings... for reduction of the penalty as provided in the Notice are not persuasive,” the reports on all five files said. “1782 Holdings has provided no substantive detail of actions taken to improve performance related to the permit amendment letter dated May 7, 2013 other than to outline assignment of staff briefly and generally to an undefined project, and to mention a process for a transfer of ownership for the wastewater treatment works initiated in February 2022.”

Part of the resort was put up for sale in May.

READ MORE: $40 million asking price for part of Okanagan Lake Resort lands

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