By Sharon Michael, The Chronicle, 9/29/98
After six months of study and analysis of alternatives, Centralia's Wastewater Treatment Plant Citizens Advisory Committee presented its recommendations to the city council Tuesday.
The 12-member committee was charged with evaluating sewage treatment options and plant design criteria, and with recommending to the city what it believed would work best for Centralia.
"The CAC has reached the conclusion that it is comfortable in its general understanding of alternative treatment techniques to make informed recommendations," committee moderator Ed Dix told the council. "The CAC also believes that the response from the general public questionnaire represents a set of opinions very similar to those of the CAC."
In June, the committee mailed a questionnaire to 4,279 Centralia households, asking for opinions on treatment methods, design issues such as noise and odor control, and site amenities such as trails and wetlands. Dix said the 531 responses "reaffirmed" the committee's preliminary decisions, reached by consensus.
"Let me talk about consensus for a moment," Dix said. "Not everybody gets exactly what they want when you come up with a decision like this."
But all committee members can support the recommendations, he added.
Those recommendations include:
Activated sludge with primary clarifiers for processing of liquids.
Lime stabilization of solids and production of class A biosolids for land application.
Odor control.
Noise and light control.
Functional, low-maintenance plant design.
Simple, low-maintenance landscaping aimed at using natural landscaping and obscuring the site as much as possible.
Phased-in construction of wetlands on the site as money becomes available.
The recommended liquids processing is the same alternative the city's engineering consultant initially proposed. The committee agreed this method is best because the system is easy to operate and maintain, and because it meets wastewater discharge permits requirements.
Incineration of biosolids was rejected because of relatively high capital cost, in favor of lime stabilization - a process not well known in the western United States.
But Dix said the committee felt comfortable with its choice after viewing videos of the process taken by Councilor Tim Browning and Wastewater Operations Manager Jim Fleming.
Production of land-applicable biosolids met the committee's goal Of Promoting beneficial reuse within the community.
Odor control was considered to be a basic element of making the new plant a good neighbor. Reducing the effect of plant noise and light on nearby residents was also important to the committee.
Dix said the committee's goal was to "keep it simple, but make it look nice and fit in."
Cost was a primary consideration in the committee's decisions, including its choice of low-maintenance building and grounds design.
But the new plant won't be cheap. Before specific treatment processes and design features were identified, CH2M Hill estimated construction would cost between $50 million and $80 million.
"How to pay for this, Mr. Southworth?" Browning asked Tuesday.
"It's going to take a very complex mix of financing," responded Utilities Director Dick Southworth. "Frankly, we need what I call 'other people's money."
Southworth said the council needs to compare the costs associated with making necessary upgrades to the current facility to the costs of a new plant.
"Yes, we can stay at the present facility," he said. "But there are problems with that."
Southworth said the capital cost of upgrading the current plant and building a new facility are about the same. But, he said, the upgraded plant would have only a 20-year life span, compared to a 50-year life span for a new plant.
The next stage is completion of an environmental impact statement and final site selection, Southworth said. The city council has rejected several requests since February for $235,000 to complete environmental studies of two potential Fords Prairie plant sites.
But part of an anticipated $5.2 million state grant for upgrade of the city's Eshom well could help pay for an environmental impact study of the nearby proposed wastewater treatment plant sites. Southworth expects to receive the official grant offer and terms by Friday.
Sharon Michael covers Centralia and Chehalis city governments for The Chronicle. She can be reached by E-mail at smichael@chronline.com or by calling 807-8237.
Back to Whats New Index Page
Back to CRC Index Page
Back to Community Index Page
Back to Lewis County Issues Index Page