| Wellsville
to await study before trying to fix sewer system
By
Riki Richards
April 6, 2007 | WELLSVILLE -- The City Council decided
to wait for an engineering study to be done before making
any major decisions about the town's sewer system.
In their meeting Wednesday, attended by the state's
Division of Water Quality, council members discussed
the options for getting the phosphorus levels down in
the city's sewer lagoons. The four members of the Division
of Water Quality explained the city could either use
land application or put in a sewer treatment plant.
Land application is the process of leaching the lagoons
onto a nearby field, allowing the phosphorus levels
to drop. The lagoons would be leached when the phosphorus
levels in the outgoing springs are too high. The land
could be used for agriculture. No food for human consumption
could be harvested, but the crops could be harvested
for animal feed.
"Phosphorus grows plants and farmers put it all over
their fields," said Tom Maughan, Wellsville assistant
public works director. "You've got an easy solution
here, Mayor."
The land that was proposed to be purchased by a group
of residents, city employees, and engineers is owned
by Utah State University. Mayor Ruth Maughan said the
city had tried to lease the land from USU in the past
for this purpose but the university backed out at the
last minute because it was too much of a liability.
"Go ahead and condemn it. That's how I feel," said
Perry Maughan, Wellsville public works director, when
it was suggested that USU might not be willing to sell
its land.
The other solution is to build a sewage treatment
plant. The main concern was the cost. The plant would
cost at least $3 million to build and there would be
more expenses later on to accommodate odor control and
population increase.
"Last year I issued 58 building permits. This year
I already issued 20," said Don Hartle, Wellsville city
manager.
The levels of phosphorus in the lagoons are a problem
because they affect the levels of dissolved oxygen in
the water. When phosphorus levels are high, more algae
grow, causing the oxygen levels to drop. That causes
problems for fish.
MS
RB |
