Elma council votes to push ahead with sewage plant - March 2, 1999
By Terry Loney - Daily World writerThe Aberdeen Daily World , 3/2/99
ELMA - The City Council unanimously agreed Monday to push ahead with a new $5 million sewage treatment plant, authorizing a loan of $353,000 for its design.
The vote was the culmination of more than three years of effort to solve problems related to the city's ailing 20-year-old facility - although two former councilmen said the old plant is not the culprit.
The city maintains the plant allows bacteria to be released into the Chehalis River in volumes exceeding Department of Ecology limits.
Last year, the council approved increasing sewer and water fees to fund the project. The preconstruction loan will come from the Public Works Trust Fund.
It was standing room only as the council reviewed the project.
Dan Piper, a former council member, said the new plant is unnecessary.
The city's Comprehensive Sewer Plan concludes that inflow and infiltration are the major problems Elma has with its sewer system, Piper told the council.
"This plan says (it) over and over and over again.".
Inflow is storm water collected by roof drains and ground water collected by sump pumps that is channeled into a sewer system. Infiltration is ground water that leaks into sewer pipes through cracks in the pipes.
Together, inflow and infiltration account for about 60 percent of the water going into the sewage treatment plant, Piper said. The plant cannot treat all the water and, at times, that results in sewage backing up into residents' basements, Piper said.
Removing inflow and infiltration will solve the problems; a new plant will not, he told the council.
Piper, who helped develop the comprehensive plan, circulated a copy of a letter he wrote that appeared in The Daily World Sunday, plus a flier urging people to oppose the new plant. Most of the nearly 30 people who attended the meeting were there in response to the letter and the flier.
Piper said residents of Elma have been misled by the council and published reports that the state Department of Ecology has mandated that the city replace its sewage treatment plant.
Harry Henneck, another former City Council member, also urged the council to delay building a new plant and fix the sewer pipes first.
Jim Starks, the city's Public Works director, said Piper is correct - inflow and infiltration are major problems. But, he said, the sewer treatment plant itself needs a fix more urgently.
Councilwoman Norma Johanson said the Department of Ecology has not mandated that the city replace the treatment plant, but it has said the city must comply with limits set on the release of nitrates and coliform bacteria into the Chehalis River.
Those releases exceed Department of Ecology limits during the summer months.
Michael Marshall, project engineer for Gibbs & Olson, the consultants hired by the city, said the present plant uses a lagoon system to treat waste water. During the summer the water is unevenly heated, resulting in a warm layer on the surface and a cold layer underneath, he said.
This difference in temperatures prevents the water in the lagoons from mixing.
Marshall said that results in nitrates forming in the lagoons. The nitrates interfere with the chlorination process used to kill the bacteria, as a result both are released in volumes exceeding Department of Ecology limits, he said.
The release of nitrates and bacteria do not exceed limits during the winter, Marshal said.
'Poisoning our water'
Piper countered that the Department of Ecology will require that the sewer pipes be replaced in the future. He said the City of Shelton built a new plant, but had to replace the leaky sewer pipes anyway because the plant did not solve the city's problems.
Replacing all the sewer pipes in the city is estimated to cost $4 million. Also, it is estimated residents would have to pay $2,000 to $2,400 to replace portions of the pipes under their properties.
Marshall said both are big problems, but the city will not be able to raise enough money to fix both the plant and the sewer pipes at the same time. It is better to replace the plant now and deal with the pipes later, the consultant said.
Dan Glenn, Elma's city attorney, added that the leaky sewer pipes are acting as a storm sewer for the city during the winter. Replacing the pipes will create a second problem as the rainwater collects in pools instead of being drained to the sewer plant, he said.
Councilman Mark Doyle said the bottom line is the city has to replace the aging treatment plant.
Councilwoman Johanson agreed.
"We are poisoning our water," she said.
Starks said the treatment plant is reaching the end of its useful life anyway.
Council members also remarked the city could face third-party lawsuits from environmental groups if the nitrates and bacteria released into the river are not reduced.
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