It’s been almost four months since an anchor line pulled up and bent the deepwater discharge pipe from Wrangell’s wastewater treatment plant, cutting off the outflow, but the repair work is going out for bid and the borough hopes to have everything back to normal by April.
Borough crews will restore the normal flow through the buried discharge pipe near City Park just as soon as the contractor completes the underwater repairs, said Public Works Director Tom Wetor.
Crews had dug up the pipe on the beach and cut into the line so that the treated wastewater could spill out into the tidal area and flush out to sea, relieving the pressure on the crimped line that had forced the discharge to back up at the treatment plant.
The problem started Sept. 11 when a boat owner was at anchor near City Park and hooked the 12-inch-diameter plastic outfall pipe when pulling up the anchor. The borough has pursued an insurance claim against the boat owner for damages and repair costs.
Wetor said state and federal water quality regulators have signed off on the borough’s plan to cut out the short section of damaged pipe, reattach the two ends and restore service. The repaired line will be about 10 feet shorter than the original, he said, but the discharge point is in deep enough water (120 feet) and far enough from shore (about 1,700 feet) that the outfall will mix and disburse in the strong currents.
Several contractors have reached out to Wetor, expressing interest in the underwater repair job. “We have a fair bit of interest.”
He hopes the borough can award the contract by the end of the month or early February, giving the contractor a couple of months to mobilize and get onsite and complete the job.
“We’re hopeful we’ve got this fixed by April 1.”
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