Environmental effects of sewer system expansion to be mitigated

By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@TheCitizenNews.com

Increasing Peachtree City's sewage treatment capacity by two million gallons a day is expected to have some minor effects on the environment.

However, any of the environmental affects will be mitigated by the time the expansion projects are completed, said Wynne Grubbs of Arcadis Geraghty and Miller.

A report compiled for WASA indicates that 15 of 28 types of environments will be impacted by the construction projects. All those impacts are deemed to be minor in nature, according to the report, which was presented to the public at a meeting Tuesday night at City Hall.

No one spoke in opposition to the plans.

The projects include expansion of the Rockaway treatment facility, decommissioning the aged Flat Creek treatment facility and pumping specially treated wastewater to Planterra Ridge golf course for irrigation use.

Grubbs said the project's overall impact will be an improvement to the environment in several ways. The water designated for golf course irrigation will prevent the golf courses from using water from Line Creek and minimize the sewer system's affect on the creek during the dry season, Grubbs said.

Also, the quality of wastewater discharged into the creek will be improved because of new permit regulations, he said.

WASA also plans to keep discharging treated wastewater into Flat Creek even though the Flat Creek facility will be shut down after the expansion. That will help maintain the wetlands downstream, a move supported by environmentalists, noted Larry Turner, WASA general manager.

The negative impacts to the environment include a small amount of wetlands that will be disturbed to install a pipeline, Grubbs said. After the construction, the wetlands will be returned to their original state, he added.

The projects will have very little or no negative impact on protected species or critical habitats such as streams since no construction is planned near streams, Grubbs said. Although a survey of the area turned up no sign of protected species, documentation was found that a particular type of mussel exists in the area which is on the protected list, Grubbs noted.

The construction will also have minor impacts on air quality, noise and erosion, but those impacts will be minimized as much as possible, Grubbs said.

The new storage ponds for the golf course irrigation program will require the cutting of some trees, although that will also be minimized, Grubbs noted. After the expansion is complete, the sewer system will be able to handle more sludge treatment at the Rockaway plant, he said.

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