Sierra Club protests sewer plant
The Sierra Club is protesting Liberty Lake Sewer and Water District’s plan to build a new million-gallon treatment plant.
A letter written by Sierra Club attorneys cited concerns that could potentially delay plant construction.
If delays continue – and every home currently platted in the area is built – district officials say the current plant could run out of capacity in a year. The plant can only process 895,000 gallons of sewage a day, although it’s permitted to process a million gallons. Without new technology, the plant can’t maximize its capacity and also risks incurring fines of $27,000 per day if it misses targeted dates for reducing wastewater pollutants.
Additionally, there are legal ramifications because the district has already contracted with Williams Bros. Construction to build the new plant.
Site preparation is under way for the $11 million project, which will update technology and lay the groundwork to double capacity, if permitting allows. But construction is on hold until officials finish gathering public input and issue a building permit.
The Sierra Club’s letter was in response to a letter from the city planning department, which hinted that the sewer district’s state environmental checklist was flawed because it was conducted in 2001.
At that time, the sewer plans were approved by the Washington Department of Ecology and the county, but recent water quality issues hadn’t yet come to light.
Doug Smith, planning director for Liberty Lake, said he’s organizing a meeting between Sierra Club representatives, the city, sewer district and Ecology next week.
“We need to know if there’s some room to give on both sides because we’re not the lead,” Smith said.
Proponents of the project say the environmental review is adequate because the plant’s design and scope hasn’t changed.
However, Sierra Club attorneys want the sewer district to amend its plan to offer an in-depth analysis of the environmental impact of discharging onto land – or other alternate plans – if discharge into the river is prohibited.
They also stressed concerns that the new plant wouldn’t meet emerging water quality standards, based on preliminary studies that are examining the effects of phosphorous in diminishing the river’s dissolved oxygen levels.
Ecology declined to comment on the Sierra Club’s specific concerns, but reiterated that Liberty Lake Sewer and Water District has approval to build the plant, but not to expand discharges to its permitted million gallons, because scientists are still conducting tests that will determine where future pollution control levels will be set.
Lee Mellish, the sewer district’s general manager, said the plant’s new technology will significantly lower phosphorous in the wastewater and allow the plant to process up to a million gallons a day.
The second phase of construction will gear the plant to meet specific pollution-control standards for water discharge or land application and expand capacity, if allowed.
“Actually, we agree with the environmental folks about cleaning up the river, but we’re not the only solution to the problem,” Mellish said.
The district is consulting with the project’s lead engineer to address the Sierra Club’s concerns.