PRRD Town Hall discuss next steps for Rose Prairie water station

ROSE PRAIRIE, B.C. – The future of the Rose Prairie Water Station was discussed at a virtual town hall Tuesday, including possible alternate locations for the water fill station.

The Peace River Regional District sought public thoughts and opinions in advance of the town hall. At the time of the town hall, seven residents completed surveys. The PRRD reminded residents that the survey portal will be open until April 9th.

Options were presented for the future of the water station during a short presentation. Option one includes using the existing station, removing any gas issues before treating the water. Option two involves fully decommissioning the site and looking for alternate water sources.

The cost for both options sits at approximately $600,000, according to the presentation. The estimated time to complete option one is between six and eight months.

From the survey responses, five out of seven respondents indicated they would use the current station if the explosive gas level issue was resolved.

If a new location was used, respondents ranked the four options from most to least desired. Location A (260 Rd and 265 Rd) was the highest-ranked, Location B (256 Rd between 256 Rd and 258 Rd) ranked second, followed by Location C (256 Rd and 276 Rd) and Location D (250 Rd and Rose Prairie Rd) getting an equal number of votes.

Another question on the survey asked if residents had a water source on their property that they would be willing to have tested for treatability. One respondent said yes, and would be willing to be contacted by the PRRD for a treatability test. One more respondent indicated they did not know if they had a water source on their property, but would be interested in the PRRD contacting them to find out more.

The PRRD is looking for more input from residents through the survey in order to include those points in the impending feasibility study. The feasibility study could include enlisting the help of the Oil and Gas Commission, looking at what work is required to move the tank loader, cost comparisons, and a rough timeline of the start and finish dates of construction.