Friday, June 7, 2002
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Friday, June 7, 2002 |
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Almost three years later, WASA and EPD settle fine over sewer spills into Lake Peachtree By JOHN
MUNFORD
The Peachtree City Water and Sewer Authority has agreed to settle with the state Environmental Protection Division over a fine for two separate sewer spills in 1999. WASA has agreed to pay the EPD a $13,000 fine and implement a special environmental project to enhance water quality, said WASA General Manager Larry Turner. The project must be approved by the EPD, he added. The original two spills covered by the fine include an estimated 20,000 gallons that leaked into Lake Peachtree June 3, 1999 when a WASA contractor working on a pump station turned the pumps off and forgot to turn them back on, Turner said. Ironically, that contractor was installing a system that would allow WASA to monitor its pump stations for problems via a computerized network. The other spill involved a problem where tree roots had intruded into a sewer line, causing a spill of approximately 1,000 gallons, Turner said. According to the consent order, that June 30, 1999 spill was discharged into Lake Peachtree from a manhole located just above the intake where the Fayette County Water System pulls water from the lake to serve the county. The matter has lingered over three years partly because WASA and EPD differed over the fine amount, Turner said. EPD originally wanted a $30,000 fine, but after WASA officials did some research, it was decided that figure was too high, Turner said. At first, WASA offered to settle the matter for $10,000, but it was later reduced to $5,000, Turner said. The issue was eventually referred to the office of the Georgia Attorney General, where the case was essentially forgotten about, Turner said. Eventually, the EPD decided to issue an administrative order requiring WASA to use a special TV camera system to inspect its sewer lines; the order also required WASA to follow certain maintenance procedures, Turner said. The financial resolution to the matter now, however, comes at a time when WASA is waiting for the EPD to sign off on its permit to expand its sewer treatment operations. The expansion plan involves shuttering the aged Flat Creek sewage treatment plant, doubling the capacity of the Rockaway plant to 4 million gallons a day and using providing specially treated sewage to Planterra Ridge golf course to be used as irrigation instead of pumping the water into Line Creek during the summer months.
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