GRAVETTE — State officials have strongly suggested that Gravette reconsider its plan for upgrading the city’s wastewater treatment facilities to meet environmental requirements.

The suggestion came last Tuesday when Gravette Mayor Bill Howard and Junior Hartley, director of city services, were in Little Rock to meet with officials of the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality and the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission concerning Gravette’s plan.

The City Council, at its meeting September 16, gave approval to a plan proposed by the city’s engineering firm, McGoodwin, Williams and Yates (McGWY).

That plan, Option A,was one of several considered to meet strict limits of phosphorus and nitrates in the discharge of effluent from the city’s treatment facility. The plan would utilize the facility’s existing lagoons and add additional components to meet the mandated limits.

The city has been out of compliance for at least two years while seeking a solution to the problem.

Accompanying Gravette officials to the meeting in Little Rock were Jim Ulmer and Jim Vetter, engineers with McGWY.

The group met with Moe Shafaii with the ADEQ and Richard Dawson, ANRC, concerning Gravette’s plan which is expected to cost an estimated $6 million.

Consider Decatur Plan

According to Mayor Howard, the officials indicated the city should reconsider a less expensive option, transporting Gravette’s wastewater to Decatur for treatment by that city’s newly constructed treatment plant.

That solution, according to engineers’ estimates, is estimated to cost at least a million dollars less than the system the council approved.

The Decatur option, as originally outlined, would require installation of a line from Gravette to Decatur and equipping it with two pumping stations in-line to deliver the effluent to the Decatur plant.

It was suggested that engineers reconfigure that plan and by eliminating the two lift stations and replacing them with one large high-pressure station in Gravette the initial cost would be reduced.

Howard said engineers will be presenting that option when the engineering work is completed.

Immediate Action

Other information coming out of the meeting in Little Rock, according to Howard, is that Gravette must take immediate action to limit the phosphorus and nitrates from the system’s present effluent discharge by treating it (the effluent) with high levels of alum. If the state-required levels are not met the city could be facing fines.

Howard said the city is purchasing additional alum, at a cost of $4,000, and treatment with the chemical will begin immediately.

The Gravette council initially had agreed to the Option A solution in order to maintain local controlof the system without having to rely on another city’s system, the cost of which could change.

As an example, it was noted at a meeting that a recent increase in the cost for water the city receives from Two-Ton, the city’s water supplier, was made unexpectedly, a change over which the city had no control.

How the city reacts to reconsidering the state-proposed change and how thestate agencies react in the future as Gravette grapples with the problem are unknown.

Whatever the outcome, Gravette sewer customers, which number less than 1,000, are facing an increase in their monthly bills. That rate structure is unknown until a plan is finalized and is agreed to by the city and accepted by the state.

Gravette is still in line for a low-interest loan of up to $9 million to make the improvements. The cost of meeting payments on that loan is the key to what customer charges ultimately will be.

News, Pages 2 on 10/06/2010