Checkup Tulsa officials visit Simmons plant and wastewater facility

— Officials from the city of Tulsa, the Tulsa Metropolitan Utilities Authority Board and Simmons Foods, Inc., met in Decatur on Feb. 23 to tour Simmons’ chicken processing plant and the new wastewater treatment plant, Mayor Bill Montgomery reported at Monday’s city council meeting.

The meeting will help the two cities -which were once involved in a lawsuit - work together, Montgomery said.

The city of Tulsa sued six northwest Arkansas poultry companies and the city of Decatur over pollution in Lake Spavinaw and Lake Eucha watersheds, according to a March 25, 2003 article in the Tulsa World. The lawsuit was settled in March of 2003. But as part of the agreement, Decatur promised to build a new wastewater treatment plant - which was completed last summer - and keep the phosphorus level below 1 part per million, Montgomery said.

Mark Simmons arranged the meeting, after the city of Tulsa wrote a letter to Montgomery complaining that Decatur has not kept its phosphorus limits below the amount agreed upon in the 2003 settlement, Montgomery said.

The city of Decatur sends monthly reports to the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality and the city of Tulsa. Since the new wastewater treatment plant went online in July, there were a few “hiccups” that caused the city to exceed its phosphorus limits, Montgomery said.

The ADEQ was aware of Decatur’s situation and works with the city on a monthly basis, but the higher than normal levels caught Tulsa’s attention, Montgomery explained.

It took some time to get the new plant adjusted, but phosphorus levels are now on track, according to public works di-rector James Boston. The last high phosphorus number was on Dec. 22, and the average for February was .30 parts per million, he said.

Adding individual lines to deliver alum to each wastewater treatment tank has solved the phosphorus problem, Montgomery said. Adding food for the bacteria that break down the waste - in the form of vinegar - has also helped, he said.

The Tulsa officials first toured the Simmons Foods Decatur chicken processing plant before continuing on to the new wastewater treatment plant.

Master of the Spavinaw and Eucha watersheds Scott Stoodley, who was appointed by the court to make sure Decatur and the poultry companies followed the settlement terms, also attended the meeting.

The experience was very educational and the officials were pleased with Decatur’s progress, Montgomery said.

“I think they were tickled pink when they saw the new facility ... They could not believe what we had for a city of our size,” he said.

“I think a lot of the misconceptions they had inthere heads about what was going down the creek were answered,” Boston said. Many of the Tulsa Metropolitan Utility Authority board members are business leaders, but did not know a lot about agriculture and the poultry industry, he said.

Decatur and Tulsa city officials plan to keep up monthly communication and continue meeting every six months, Montgomery said.

“We just want to all work together,” he said.

News, Pages 1 on 03/10/2010