Mullan Flood Project Costs Run High Pipes For Water Runoff Have To Be Encased In Concrete, Department Of Environmental Quality Says

A construction project here aimed at providing flood protection and a better water system will cost more than expected.

State environmental officials are requiring that new water pipes be encased in concrete, because they’ll be installed closer to sewer lines than health regulations allow.

“This borders on ridiculous,” said Mullan City Council member Chuck Reitz, who thinks the rules are overly strict and belatedly enforced.

The Division of Environmental Quality didn’t insist on a change until Oct. 12, a week after the project started. DEQ regional administrator Gwen Fransen blames that on the engineering firm, which submitted construction plans too late for approval before digging began.

“It puts everybody in a tough spot, especially with winter breathing down our necks, with budgetary constraints and public health on the line,” she said. “It’s not good for the community and it’s not good for us.”

The city of Mullan and the East Shoshone Water District are using federal money for the work under Second Street.

A 36-inch pipe will be installed to catch overflow from Mill Creek. First, 8-inch water mains are being laid to replace leaky four-inch pipes.

State rules call for the sewer and water lines to be 10 feet apart to prevent possible contamination of drinking water. But in the narrow street, which also must accommodate gas lines, a separation of six feet is the best that can be done for much of the distance.

“We’ve got a creek on one side and a mountain on the other. There’s no place to go,” Reitz said. “Believe me, we’re as far away from the sewer line as we can possibly get.”

Welch Comer & Associates knew about the problem last June, and asked the DEQ for a waiver. But the engineering firm didn’t submit construction plans until Sept. 3. Without those plans, Fransen said, the agency couldn’t consider waiving the rules.

Waivers usually require some kind of expensive change, Fransen said, and that should have been figured into the construction budget.

The idea of encasing the water main in concrete came out of a Wednesday discussion among Fransen, Reitz, engineer Larry Comer and water district manager George Dancer.

Comer could not be reached for comment.

Dancer wasn’t sure Thursday what the concrete slurry will cost. The dollars will be taken from second phase of the water main project, which will replace pipes under Earl Street next summer.

“We’ll have to come up with money elsewhere if we want to finish Earl Street,” Dancer said.

The water district already lacked $13,700 to complete the job, he said. A $498,000 grant from the department of Housing and Urban Development is being used to replace the water mains.

Reitz has been told that the concrete work will add two days to the construction effort. He vowed not to approve it if it causes too much delay.

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