Kootenai Wastewater Panel Wins Award

The Kootenai Regional Wastewater Coordinating Committee won the 1997 Municipal Water Protection Award for its four-year effort to plan the region’s wastewater needs for the next 20 years.

Kent Helmer, administrator of the Hayden Area Regional Sewer Board, and Sid Fredrickson, Coeur d’Alene’s wastewater superintendent, accepted the award this week at the Pacific Northwest Pollution Control Association’s fall conference in Seattle.

The regional wastewater committee was formed in 1994 by the cities of Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls and Rathdrum and the Hayden Area Regional Sewer Board. The committee secured $280,000 through grants and the participating communities.

A consultant was hired to develop a long-range wastewater facilities plan and an environmental impact statement. The final plan and EIS were adopted by the communities in June this year.

The plan outlined alternatives for disposal of anticipated liquid and solid waste streams and recommended several ways the four utilities can share resources in the future. , DataTimes