Posted on August 13, 2025
The City of Meadow Lake has postponed a planned sewage lagoon dredging project after a survey revealed the amount of sludge and contamination in the lagoon was much larger than originally thought.
The survey found that sludge occupies about 56 per cent of the volume in some treatment cells. The sludge contains high amounts of copper, petroleum hydrocarbons and pathogens that require special disposal in a landfill. Along with the sludge, around 967 cubed metres of grit deposited by vacuum trucks was found in one cell.
Meadow Lake Mayor Merlin Seymour is aware that the news is not what residents wanted to hear.
“We committed to taking action, and the first step was the detailed survey. That survey has now given us an exceptionally clear picture of the problem, and it requires a more robust solution than what could be accomplished with the original budget and timeline. This difficult decision is necessary to ensure we invest in a solution that fixes the problem correctly.”
