DEP meeting in the works, Fleming says

Wednesday May 06, 2009
DEP meeting in the works, Fleming says
Geoff Hamill
Staff Writer

Will the county commission get the Public Service District (PSD) in hot water with the state if the commission stops construction of the planned sewage treatment plant on Snowshoe Drive?

The commission seeks an answer to that question, having already intervened with state agencies to stop the project.

County commissioner David Fleming attended the Public Service District (PSD) meeting on April 28 and told the PSD board that the commission is setting up a meeting with the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), tentatively scheduled for May 19.

The commission wants to find out if stopping construction of the plant will affect the consent decree between DEP and the PSD. The consent decree provides a grace period as long as progress is being made towards a regional sewage solution. During the grace period, water pollution limits are eased while the PSD works on a solution.

If the DEP determines that progress is not being made, it could end the grace period and impose fines, according to Lloyd Coleman, PSD manager.

Coleman presented information to the PSD board at the April 28 meeting which showed the PSD would be in violation of ammonia discharge limits without the consent decree.

For March, the decree allowed a maximum daily ammonia discharge of 60 milligrams per liter (mg/l) at the Snowshoe Village plant. The actual ammonia discharged in March was 40.6 mg/l, well within the interim limit, but far exceeding the final permit level of 13.7 mg/l.

Coleman told the commission at an April 10 meeting that blocking construction of the plant could cause problems with the consent decree, spurring commissioners Fleming and Martin Saffer to set up a meeting with the DEP. Commissioner Reta Griffith has not supported the effort to stop construction of the plant.

Fleming informed the PSD at the April 28 meeting that the Infrastructure and Jobs Development Council (IJDC) had not yet responded to the commission request to stop funding for the Snowshoe Drive sewage plant. He said the next full IJDC council meeting on May 5 might produce an answer.

The PSD also approved a letter to the county commission, denying the commission’s request that all three board members resign.

“The Board appreciates the interest of the Commission in the proposed sewer project. However, the Board does not agree that it must step aside. You refer to ‘new ideas’ but you do not state what they are. Nonetheless, the Board has approved numerous changes and improvements to the design and location of the project. With respect to ‘public perception’, your letter provides no basis for your opinion, and so the Board will not respond to this, except to say that it does not agree,” the letter states in part.

The next regular meeting of the PSD is scheduled for May 26 at 7 p.m. at the Durbin water works building.