City hears good news on sewer

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

— A new study of Gravette’s wastewater treatment facility provides a positive report which possibly could save the citizens of Gravette several million dollars, Mayor Byron Warren reports.

Recommendations in the report, prepared by the city’s new engineering firm, Morris-Shipley, indicate that corrected operation of the plant and planned repairs in the lagoon system could result in substantial savings.

Morris-Shipley submitted the report to the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality in response to a consent administrative order issued by that agency.

The 14-page report addresses past violations of the plant during the period from 2007 throughearly 2011 and lists corrective actions that have been taken and are proposed.

Because “the plant was not being operated in accordance” with the plant permit, it was in violation and exceeded discharge limits, particularly those of phosphorus and nitrates, the report cited.

Meeting Standards

Data collected since March, 2011, show the system is now operating as it was designed to perform and monitoring indicates “when the plant is operating correctly, the resulting discharge far exceeds water quality standards established by the permit.”

The report continues: “Under current conditions, the plant is capable of meeting the permit limits with competent operation” and “the existing process is meeting the permit requirements and is predicted to do so for the next 20 years.”

The city, for the past four or five years, has been attempting to find answers to problems with the system. Corrective actions proposed by previous engineers indicated the estimated cost for solving the problems could range from $7.35 million to $8.29 million.

Those recommendations included either building a new plant, modifying the existing facility or transporting Gravette’s effluent to Decatur for treatment at that city’s plant.

Financial Burden

The Morris-Shipley report noted that “an improvement project of this magnitude would be unduly burdensome to the Gravette customer base which has only 815 sewer customers.”

Rate studies have shown that financing bonds for suggested improvements could result in steep increases in customer costs; perhaps as high as $50 monthly minimum bills.

Starting shortly after the first of 2011, the plant began daily discharge of effluent and daily treating and testing began. Earlier the plant had been retaining fluids and solids with discharging only occurring about four times per year.

The Morris-Shipley firm concludes that by replacing ineffective equipment, installing some new equipment and repairing leaks in the lagoon system, the system is projected to meet permit requirements “for the next 20 years.”

Mayor Byron Warren said, “The city has already been approved for updating the influent and affluent equipment and also installing composite collection instruments."

The report to ADEQ was a requirement in order to confirm the city has and is taking corrective action to maintain its state permit. A response from the state has not yet been received.

Mayor Warren, who has been instrumental in seeking a more cost-effective answer to the problem, said no cost estimates have been made for the corrective measures as recommended by the study, but the cost is expected to be substantially lower than the proposals that had been suggested.

News, Pages 1 on 01/11/2012