By The Chronicle, 5/22/98
PE ELL - State concerns about Pe Ell's declining public utilities turned this week from water problems to sewer issues.
Tuesday, the state Department of Ecology issued a moratorium against any further sewer system hookups in town.
Ecology acted to correct infiltration in the town's sewer pipes and to relieve overflows of raw or partially treated sewage into the Chehalis River, according to a letter addressed to Mayor John Penberth.
"Really, it's a pretty basic, simple little order - except it's going to cost about $3 million," Penberth said.
Last month, state and county health officials issued a boil-water advisory because of problems with Pe Ell's water treatment plant. The order remains in effect possibly through next February.
"Water is our No. 1 emergency, sewer's No. 2," the mayor said.
The sewer-related order replaces an April 24, 1996, order that allowed one sewer system hookup for every 100 feet of replaced sewer lines.
The town has not replaced any sewer lines since the 1996 order, but it made pump station repairs and side sewer replacement and met reporting requirements.
The wastewater plant "routinely violates permit limits" for its discharges under several testing criteria, the Ecology order states.
The order requires Pe Ell to do the following:
Prohibit any new sewer hookups until it can demonstrate it has the capacity to handle more sewage.
Submit design plans to Ecology for sewer-pipe improvements by Nov. 30.
Submit contracts to Ecology for review and approval by Jan. 30, 1999.
"We're trying really hard to work with Pe Ell," said Sandy Rudnick, Ecology spokeswoman. "They've got a ways to go to solve their water quality problems."
The order will not affect the opening of Raymond-based Harbor Community Bank later this summer, Penberth sid.
A proposed hardware store would use a sewer hookup transferred from a house.
The order is not all bad news, the mayor said. It helps move the town toward making improvements, and it protects the town from lawsuits.
"It helps keep the wolf away from the door," he said.
The town is applying for a $250,000 loan from the Public Works Trust Fund to improve its water plant, which needs about $2.5 million in repairs.
Penberth will travel to Seattle June 3 to lobby the state Department of Community Trade and Economic Development for the loan, he said.