Region preparing for major overhaul of Lakeshore Road pumping station

A large presence of fleet and workers at a pumping station in Fort Erie was part of a planned upgrade, says a Niagara Region spokesperson.

Work took place all day Tuesday at the Niagara Region facility on Lakeshore Road, where 5,300 litres of sewage were pumped into local waters in September, preliminary steps in an overhaul project that has a budget of $7.4 million.

Niagara Region communications consultant Janet Rose said the work taking place did not have anything to do with a malfunction, which is what caused the significant discharge late last year.

“This replacement work was planned and not due to a malfunction or failure of our infrastructure,” said Rose, adding there is no expected disruption to the community and that it is anticipated the work will be completed this week.

The replacement of these pipes is in anticipation of the Lakeshore Road Sewage Pumping Station project, which is expected to start construction in the spring.

“The planned upgrades will see the station’s capacity increased to meet the demands of a growing population in this area of the region,” said Rose in a statement to Fort Erie Radio.

Sewage was flushed into the Niagara River-Lake Erie area for 52 minutes on September 9.

The facility is equipped with two pumps to convey sewage to the Anger Avenue wastewater treatment plant, and is also equipped with a third pump meant to handle overflow during wet weather by pumping sewage and stormwater to the environment to prevent basement flooding, explained a memo about the incident to regional council last year.

But when the incident occurred, a cable restraint and electrical supply for pump one deteriorated and fell into the pumping station wet well. The cables were sucked up by pump two causing it to stop working as well as a power failure, the Region explained at the time.

That incident at the pumping station, built in 1985, was the “most significant maintenance issue experienced at the site to date,” the Region’s director of wastewater services Phill Lambert told Fort Erie Radio last year.

The station has experienced three additional maintenance issues in the past between 2021 and 2024, which is in part why the station was identified for upgrades.

The Region is also addressing a sewage pumping station on Catherine Street near Niagara Parkway, which was commissioned in 1981 and has reached the end of its service life.

There are plans for a major upgrade at that facility, which is currently the subject of an ongoing archaeological study.

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