Eureka Springs Mayor Butch Berry issued a disaster emergency proclamation on Wednesday, Sept. 18, after the discovery of an apparent leak at the city’s wastewater treatment plant.
The city council held a special meeting the same day to authorize Berry to apply for a loan from the state to cover a portion of the repair costs.
Berry’s disaster proclamation says it was observed on Friday, Sept. 13, that the receiving creek, Town Branch, of the water treatment effluent “was brown and discolored.”
The problem is believed to stem from a leak below the normal water line in one of the existing waste storage tanks, Berry’s proclamation says.
The tank “is leaking untreated waste into the groundwater and it is getting to the stream somewhere downstream of the existing waste water treatment plant effluent discharge location …” the proclamation says.
The city council voted 4-0 at its special meeting Wednesday afternoon to approve a resolution authorizing Berry to apply for funding of up to $100,000 from the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission to help fund the necessary repairs.
Council members David Avanzino, Susane Gruning, Harry Meyer and Autumn Slane voted in favor of the resolution. Council members Steve Holifield and Terry McClung were absent, while Avanzino, Gruning and Slane participated by phone.
Terms for the emergency loan are estimated at a 5 percent interest rate for up to 20 years with a 3 percent origination fee.
Simon Wiley, the city’s public works director, told Berry and the council that “e. coli levels aren’t super high.”
“Acceptable for our state permit is between 200 and 400 (colony forming units, or CFUs, per milliliter), and we’re consistently well below that on the discharge stream from the sewer plant itself,” Wiley said. “But the creek levels are the levels that are elevated. Some of that might be from the city and some of that might be because there’s wild hogs out there or whatever, you know. So I just want the public to know that they’re not crazy high right now. They are elevated, though.”
Zane Lewis of Mc-Clelland Engineers outlined the steps to be taken, including relocating pumps, moving wastewater into a different tank, dewatering the existing tank and make necessary repairs to ensure the tank is watertight and functioning properly.
In response to a question from Meyer, Wiley said repair work could begin as soon as Monday, Sept. 23.
Earlier Wednesday, Berry told the Times-Echo by phone that the city had notified the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality about the suspected leak, and ADEQ requested the emergency proclamation. Berry estimated that the total cost to repair the leak could be up to $300,000.
