Raw sewage from the West Fork wastewater treatment plant spilled into the White River for about two weeks in early April, according to state officials, which raises concern about water quality in Beaver Lake.

"It's very bad when sewage ends up in the river," said John Pennington, Beaver Watershed Alliance executive director. "People can get sick."

Beaver Lake provides drinking water for about 420,000 people. The lake is also a recreational hot spot.

The alliance has programs to restore water quality in the Beaver Lake Watershed and maintain quality drinking water, according to its website. That includes attempts to restore the White River, which flows into Beaver Lake.

"Not a large amount" of sewage overflowed into the river, said Michael "Butch" Bartholomew, West Fork's street-utilities superintendent. The sewage from West Fork is expected to make its way down the river and into the lake by the end of May, said Robert Morgan, manager of environmental quality at the Beaver Water District. It should be diluted by then, he said.

By Wednesday, the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality reported the flow of raw sewage from West Fork into the White River stopped.

Neither Bartholomew nor the state environmental agency had estimates of how much sewage flowed into the river. Water samples taken by state inspectors April 8 showed enough contamination to issue an emergency order to demand the plant stop releasing raw sewage.

So far, the state Health Department isn't involved with any investigation into the West Fork incident, said Kerry Krell, spokeswoman. The wastewater is unlikely to have contaminated any wells, and public water remains safe to drink, she said.

Water districts have disinfecting chemicals to make drinking water safe, but water district administrators said they worry about people playing in the river, and the impact to lake's long-term water quality if pollution continues, Morgan said.

"Our real concern is the health and safety of the public, especially if anyone is thinking about canoeing or swimming in West Fork," Morgan said.

Old Plant, Old Problem

The sewage overflowing from the West Fork plant isn't unusual for the ailing treatment facility, Bartholomew said.

"We've been working on this problem for years," he said. "We are always making repairs."

When it rains, the collection system floods, then overflows into the White River, Bartholomew said. The plant is 40-plus years old and built in a floodplain, he said.

"We're certainly making every effort, and are working with ADEQ," Bartholomew said.

The environmental agency issued a consent administrative order and fined West Fork $800 last year for environmental violations. In the order, 29 sewage overflows were documented in four years, revealing violations in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012.

West Fork residents have talked about the plant's problems for years, too, Pennington said. Some residents didn't realize how serious the issue was, and others believe they were misled, he said.

"They are starting to understand that this (overflow) really is not good," Pennington said.

Bartholomew said the city agreed to fix the problem by building a 7-mile pipeline to connect waste from West Fork to Fayetteville. The agreement is in the administrative order.

City officials considered building a new plant, but the state urged the city to choose a regional solution, Bartholomew said. Fayetteville already treats waste for several other cities, including Elkins.

The pipeline is supposed to be built by Nov. 30, the administrative order shows. A prerequisite study to show what problems exist at the old plant, however, isn't expected to be finished until the end of this year. Updates for an environmental impact document are due in September, according to documents Bartholomew provided Thursday.

Even Fayetteville officials don't expect West Fork's studies and capital improvements to be finished for another 16 months, said Don Marr, chief of staff for Fayetteville Mayor Lioneld Jordan. Then, both city councils must approve any contract to treat West Fork's waste, Marr said.

Lengthy Process

The process for building a pipeline simply takes a long time, he said.

Getting state and federal money, easements, surveys and contracts are all part of why fixing the plant has taken a year and a half so far, Bartholomew said. West Fork can't afford the entire $5 million estimated for building the pipeline on its own, Bartholomew said. At least half the cost must be covered by outside sources.

"We'd already had the line finished if we had the money," he said.

The survey of its system alone is expected to cost about $179,973, according to an email from Robert White, project engineer with McClelland Consulting Engineers, to Richard Dawson, engineer supervisor at the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission. The survey includes inspecting about 300 manholes and smoke testing about 75,000 linear feet of gravity sewers.

The Arkansas Natural Resources Commission approved the city for $4.1 million in loans last year, according to commission minutes from March 27, 2013.

Plant workers are trying to keep up with repair. A new chlorinator was installed in December to keep the plant operating correctly, White said in a quarterly progress report to the environmental agency. Maintenance on the plant's collection system during the last quarter of 2013 included cleaning three sewer mains, cleaning up manholes and maintenance work on a cleanout, White wrote in his Jan. 9 report.

After issuing the April 11 emergency order, the state denied Bartholomew's plan to control the overflow because it left some sewage untreated. Bartholomew on Wednesday asked the state to agree to increase the flow of waste the plant can handle.

A higher pumping rate will mean "more water can be routed through the city's treatment system without bypassing any treatment units," White wrote in email to the agency Wednesday. A temporary pump in the clear well, where water is stored after a chemical disinfectant has been added, moves water into the disinfecting chamber faster, according to the letter.

The agency sent a letter to West Fork Mayor Charlie Rossetti saying there was no objection to the plan to install a larger pump in the clear well.

Plant workers have made some short-term changes, including cleaning the overflow area, Bartholomew said. Employees also dug a hole and used hay bales to build a catch basin for overflow.

West Fork officials want to fix the sewage problem, Bartholomew said.

"Beaver Lake is very important to us," he said. "We are as concerned as anyone would be because it's our drinking water also," he said.

Prosecutor Shows Interest

The Arkansas State Police is collecting data that could become part of a case against individual city employees if they broke environmental laws, said Denis Dean, chief deputy at the Washington County Prosecutor's Office.

"We're looking into the matter," Dean said.

No official investigation has started, but Dean emailed a Freedom of Information Act request to the state Department of Environmental Quality on Wednesday asking them to turn over records on West Fork's wastewater plant, according to the agency's email.

Knowingly, purposely or recklessly causing the state's water to become polluted in a way that could hurt human health, property or wildlife is a misdemeanor or felony offense, according to Arkansas Code 8-4-103. So is tampering with any monitoring device, method or record.

Bartholomew and Virgil Blackmon, Wastewater Utility Board chairman, said they hadn't heard about any inquiry. Bartholomew said he knew some residents have complained.

Pennington said if pollution continues to go into the White River, more nutrients could end up in Beaver Lake. That means more algae and could lead to less wildlife in the water and reduced water quality.

"There could definitely be some changes in water quality if it continued over a long period," said Scott Borman, general manager for the Benton-Washington Regional Public Water Authority. The authority also provides drinking water to residents in both counties.

Fish and water insects are declining in the White River from pollution caused by rain runoff picking up natural and manmade pollutants and bank erosion, Pennington said.

"You really don't need this on top of all the other things in the watershed," he said of the sewage overflow.