The borough is about to begin the five-year, state-mandated process of updating its wastewater treatment plant. Borough officials are currently searching for sources of funding for what will likely be a multimillion-dollar project.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issues permits to wastewater treatment plants across the nation, regulating the amount of pollutants they are allowed to release into the water. Historically, the Wrangell treatment plant has received a waiver allowing it to discharge wastewater that has not undergone full secondary treatment. Primary treatment separates solids from liquids, whereas secondary treatment provides further decontamination through a variety of methods.
Secondary treatment waivers were offered to many coastal communities in 1977 when Congress concluded that the deeper waters and stronger currents of marine discharge areas would allow for more effective dilution than their freshwater counterparts. However, after about 30 years without an update, the EPA is revisiting its waivers for Wrangell and several other Alaska communities, looking to require improved disinfection of discharges.
Wrangell will receive a new wastewater treatment plant permit in the coming months. Once the permit is issued, the borough will have five years to make the plant operational under the updated standards. “We need to start moving now because this process is going to take years,” said Public Works Director Tom Wetor. “It’s not just going to happen overnight.”
For example, it could cost as much as $5 million to add a disinfection system to the wastewater stream before discharge into the ocean, Wetor reported to the borough assembly last month. Annual operating expenses could increase by $250,000, necessitating a substantial rate hike to residences and businesses, he wrote.
Wrangell may be eligible for a low-interest loan from the state with the possibility of forgiveness, according to Gene McCabe, of the state Department of Environmental Conservation, but the borough has not yet determined the exact cost of the project or how it will be funded. “It’s … an unfunded mandate that’s being brought forth by the state,” said Borough Manager Jeff Good.
At its Dec. 20 meeting, the borough assembly unanimously approved spending $40,000 to model a new, deep-water outfall mixing zone for its wastewater plant discharge, which is its first step toward meeting EPA and DEC requirements. The current discharge pipe extends about 1,700 feet into deeper water of Zimovia Strait, near City Park and Heritage Harbor.
This funding will allow the borough to hire engineers who will “gather additional water data and perform water (modeling),” according to a report by Capital Facilities Director Amber Al-Haddad.
The data they collect will “(give) us information to determine what we need to build,” said Wetor. The dilution model will have a “big impact” on the permit requirements, he reported to the assembly.
“There are six (communities) that are being targeted in this first round,” he added. “We’re up first.” Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Sitka and Skagway have similar waivers that will also be re-evaluated. Pelican, Anchorage and Whittier also are operating under old waivers.
The changes that the DEC has suggested for Wrangell will not require a total rebuild of the sewage plant. Instead, they will likely require an additional step in the plant’s disinfection process. Public Works has two options for disinfection: chlorine and ultraviolet light. Chlorine destroys harmful microorganisms through oxidation, whereas ultraviolet light destroys their genetic material, making it impossible for them to reproduce, according to EPA documents.
The borough has not yet decided which method it will use. Good plans to “take the entire life cycle cost into play as far as what option we go with,” he said in a previous interview. “Even if we have (an option) that’s initially more expensive up front, if the life cycle cost is cheaper, then that would be the preference.”
For example, chlorine may be more cost-effective to implement but would necessitate the regular shipment of chemicals to the island.
The borough has submitted comments on its draft permit, raising “a number of concerns with the regulatory agencies in regard to our ability to fund, staff and remain in compliance with new regulations,” Wetor wrote in a report to the borough assembly last month. “Specifically, we have concerns with the cost of the changes that would be needed.”
Reader Comments(0)