Blackville sewage system to grow; $1.6M in gov’t funding will see 60 new households connected to system

Coleen Peterson waited for years to hear yesterday’s municipal water and sewage funding announcement and she couldn’t be happier about it.

“I’ve been doing my laundry at laundromats,” said Peterson, who has lived on McLaggan Drive in Blackville for 17 years.

Yesterday, Premier Shawn Graham travelled here, about 35 kilometres southwest of Miramichi, to announce $1.6 million to extend Blackville’s wastewater system, which will now connect homes that previously weren’t serviced by the municipal system.

The announcement “is long overdue,” Graham said.

The money is coming from the Canada-New Brunswick Municipal Rural Infrastructure Fund, where the municipal, provincial and federal governments each contribute a third of the money.

Tobique-Mactaquac MP Mike Allen represented the federal government at the announcement, made at Blackville’s Village Hall on Main Street.

The project will connect 60 new households to the municipal wastewater collection and treatment system.

“By investing in this type of infrastructure not only are we connecting 60 additional homes now to the municipal system but we’re also providing an opportunity for new businesses to locate into the region that will require proper wastewater treatment facilities,” Graham said.

“This is what growing New Brunswick is all about — investing in infrastructure that allow us to attain self-sufficiency.”

Peterson had her own sewer and water system but a few years ago she started having problems with her drainage, making it difficult for her do to simple things like laundry.

She wanted to fix it but heard a rumour a few years ago that the village was working to expand the system.

“Who wants to put $10,000 into a new sewer system if you don’t have to?” she said.

Mayor Glen Hollowood said the village council has worked on this project for four years.

Before he left, Graham said he would be back in the Miramichi area on Monday to make an announcement about a company in the manufacturing sector.