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Lincoln
officials seek solution to wastewater treatment plant permit renewal
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City opts
to research questionable water flow figures
[DEC.
5, 2006]
The city began the slow process of applying for a
new wastewater treatment plant operation permit last spring,
committee chairman Buzz Busby said. It came as quite a surprise this
fall when the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency informed them
that they would not be able to approve the permit renewal.
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The five-year permit was the first since completion of $10 million
in upgrades at the Lincoln plant. The upgrades were done at IEPA
specs and expected to last for many years to come.
The issue was not the quality of water after processing
(effluent). In fact, nothing the plant is doing or not doing is a
factor. But rather the problem is that the amount of water in Salt
Creek where the clarified water from the plant gets discharged has
changed.
Amounts of water and rate flowing in the creek are regularly
monitored and measured every so many feet by the Illinois Soil and
Water Survey. According to Alderman Busby, the survey of
measurements up and down that section of Salt Creek was done and
sent to the IEPA just after the upgrades to the treatment plant were
completed.
Busby said that the city was faced with a couple of choices,
neither appealing:
1. Reduce the flow
from the plant.
The plant would
need to cut back from processing 4.5 million gallons a day to 3.5
million gallons a day.
This would not be
desirable for two reasons, Busby said. The city made the upgrades to
increase the capacity to allow for growth. No new businesses or
homes could be added if the system would be cut back
Also taken into
consideration is the fact that, currently, when there is an
unusually heavy rain of 4 to 5 inches the plant is at maximum
capacity.
2. Expand the
facility by adding a clarifier or two.
Funds would need to
be found to do this. It would cost $1 million to $2 million.
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 The managing company for the wastewater treatment plant, EMC,
looked at the Illinois Soil and Water Survey’s updated maps and
compared the current and previous Salt Creek flow measurements. EMC
officials noted that the flow had dropped by 30 percent just on the
section of creek where the treated water enters, but the flow
figures were the same as previously recorded both upstream and
downstream from that point, local manager Dave Kitzmiller said.
EMC recommended hiring a consultant who could check the figures
out. The city contacted Josiah Cox from Missouri, who is licensed to
practice in Illinois. Cox began evaluation and recalculation of the
flow figures last week.
Cox discovered that there is a difference between the figures
that the Illinois Soil and Water Survey uses to calculate flow rates
and the IEPA requirements. ISWS flow rate figures are a comparison
of the figures since they have been in existence until today. The
IEPA requirements are a comparative of only the past 10 years. The
lowest figure is used from these flow rates and it differs
considerably.
Cox has begun dialogue between the Illinois Soil and Water Survey
and IEPA about those figures, Kitzmiller said Tuesday.
[Jan
Youngquist]
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