Operators of a sewer system that once threatened the Buffalo National River have nearly fulfilled requirements of an agreement with the state environmental agency, one of its commissioners said Friday.
But National Park Service officials said they aren’t ready to remove signs warning of potential contamination they placed on the river in June 2010 until further testing is done to show bacteria has been measured to be at a safe level.
The last piece of equipment to be installed as part of improvements to the Marble Falls sewer system was set to be shipped Friday, said Donnie Crain, a member of the three-person commission responsible for the system.
Raw sewage from the system began leaking into Mill Creek, a tributary of the Buffalo River, from a sewerpump station alongside Arkansas 7 in northern Newton County in January 2009. The pump failed during an ice storm, and previous members of the commission were unable to resolve problems with the system.
The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality filed a civil suit against the system, threatening to shut off the community’s water on Feb. 2, 2010. A trial was averted when sewer system operators reached an agreement with the state, which outlined repairs to the system.
The agreement was formalized in a consent decree issued in Sept. 17, 2010, by Circuit Judge Shawn Womack, who serves Boone and Newton counties.
Crain said the last piece to be installed is a specialized manhole that allows for monitoring sewer flow. The manhole will be installed bythe end of the month, completing requirements set out in an agreement with the department, he said.
Marble Falls residents twice raised their sewer rates to pay for repairs to the system, which was built to serve the former Dogpatch USA theme park, Crain said. Commissioners developed a three-phase plan to improve the system, but only the first two phases were part of the consent decree, he said.
The first two phases included a new sewer pump and sewer line improvements and cost about $500,000, of which around $400,000 was paid for by state grants, Crain said. Residents had to more than double their monthly rates, which were $15 when the leak happened in 2009, he said.
The small sewer system served several dozen households over the last few years.
The Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department spent about $300,000 to relocate the failed pump as part of its project to improve a section of Arkansas 7. The $3.8 million highway project is expected to be finished at the end of May, said David Nilles, highway department spokesman.
Crain said the repairs enabled the system to renew its federal permit at the beginning of the month. The system also qualified for another $300,000 in grants that will be used to further improve the sewer system, he said.
Though there will still be improvements made, the consent decree will be completed when the last requirement is finished, said Ryan Benefield, deputy director of the Environmental Quality Department.
Benefield said that while the sewer system operators had to ask for an extension of the deadline to complete the improvements, they’ve done everything necessary to achieve compliance. Water tests indicate the repairs havebeen successful in stopping the contamination, he said.
The original deadline was Dec. 31.
“We’ve been very pleased,” he said. “They’ve been able to continue to make progress and complete items in consent decree and we’ve seen improvement in the water quality in the creek.”
Buffalo National River officials are reassured by the repairs made to the Marble Falls sewer system but need further testing to be sure the contamination has stopped, said Caven Clark, park spokesman.
Clark said high levels of bacteria were detected during heavy rain, and, until those conditions occur again, it will be impossible to be sure the contamination has ceased.
Park officials posted signs warning of potential unsafe levels of bacteria along a short section from the Buffalo’s confluence with Mill Creek to about a quarter mile past Crow Hole in June 2010. Water tests at the time indicated high levels of E. coli bacteria, which was attributed to the leak.
“The bottom line is the problem has been resolved to a satisfactory extent, but we don’t know if it’s permanent,” Clark said.
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Northwest Arkansas, Pages 9 on 02/11/2012