Heather Wright/The Independent

St. Clair Township Mayor Jeff Agar is ecstatic.

St Clair Township will be able to expand the Courtright waste water treatment plant after the province kicked in $33.87 million for a $45 million expansion.

Sarnia-Lambton MPP Bob Bailey made the announcement today on behalf of Infrastructure Minister Kinga Surman. The funding is part of the provinces Housing Enabling Water Systems Fund which helps municipalities develop, repair, and expand water and waste water infrastructure for housing or industrial growth.

“I don’t ever remember getting this kind of a influx of money from the government,” says Agar.

The township has been exploring expansion of the Courtright plant for some time. It became more urgent when Crown Royal maker, Diagio, announced it would be building a new $245 million plant in St. Clair. The distiller would need most of the capacity from the Courtright plant.

There has also been a surge of home building in St. Clair. Bailey says the new plant will create waste water system capacity for over 600 homes and allow more industrial development in the future.

Agar is excited about the prospects of attracting more industry to the community. “We weren’t able to really go after a whole lot, because we didn’t have capacity for this because a lot of times now, when industry will come in, they’ll want to hook right into our wastewater system.”

Agar says he’s been talking to Bailey about the need for some time and is thankful for his help to move the project forward. He’s also hopeful the federal government may yet contribute to the project.

The mayor expects construction on the plant could begin in the spring of 2025. “I think the EA (Environmental Assessment) process is all done, and I think pretty much the engineering, so it’ll have to go to tender yet, and probably in, like, a couple years, I would think like to be finished.”

Sarnia is also receiving $7 million to build the Wellington Road Development Extension. Officials say that will help with the creation of nearly 2,500 homes.