by Elissa Yount
During our time on the Henderson City Council’s Public Utilities Committee, Bobby Gupton and I asked for a tour of all the pump stations and major sewer right-of-way lines for which the city is responsible.
We had already seen and taken pictures of the raw sewage spilling into the streets and creeks in Henderson. We had also smelled the stench in neighborhoods. In one of our tours around town, we had run across repairs being made on Jane Avenue, and we were shocked that trees had to be cut down along the right of way before work could begin.
We wanted first hand knowledge of Henderson’s sewer operation. Taking that tour was a eye-opener.
As you know, our city is responsible for collecting the sewage from our homes and businesses and transporting that waste to the treatment plant on Nutbush Creek. If you live on the east side of the railroad tracks, all that waste has to be pumped uphill. Next, the city has to use many expensive chemicals to treat the waste to clean it up. Then the city puts the cleaned water back into the creek that flows to Kerr Lake. Finally, they have to deal with the leftover solid waste from the treatment process.
This is a huge job, and not one many people want. The state protects us all by having miles of regulations and stipulations that the city must follow. When the city does not comply, the state can take enforcement action. Just look at what they did to Oxford.
Our city has a NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) permit that contains the requirements and conditions of how many pollutants the city can discharge. If the city violates this permit, there are consequences. Presently, our city is under a Special Order of Consent (SOC). SOC’s are appropriate if a facility is unable to consistently comply with the terms, conditions, or limitations in its NPDES permit. A SOC can only be issued if the reason(s) causing the non-compliance are not operational in nature. The problems must be tangible problems, such as problems with plant design or infrastructure.
As part of our SOC agreement, the city has to test sewer lines. When the city finds breaks after taking pictures and doing smoke tests, they are to notify the property owners and the property owners are supposed to fix the problems. But when the problems are under the street, the city does the fixing and the taxpayers do the paying.
In March of 2009 it was concluded of a break along Coble Boulevard that “the sewer pipe was extremely deteriorated with no structural integrity left remaining of the pipe… [and] needed to be immediately replaced to avoid the possibility of further blockages and potential cave in of the street.”
How did Coble Boulevard get into such bad shape? It is not in the part of the city that dates back to the 1880s. While most cities have a replacement schedule to completely replace sewer and water lines every 35 years, Henderson only has the money to react to emergencies, and even the emergencies are now having emergencies.
The sewer infrastructure is compromised all over Henderson. If you have ever wondered what lies under the ground in our 1880s section of the city, you need not wonder any longer. There are pictures. The pictures of the sewer rats and collapsing lines in our system should be put on the Internet. It will scare the sewage out of you.
How are we going to pay to replace lines, expand or build a new treatment plant, and keep up with all the maintenance? It takes a whopping pile of money. Part of every water bill you pay has a sewer charge on it, and a part of that charge is suppose to be set aside each month and put into an account for future sewer needs. As big as our sewer charges are, that fund should be tremendous. But, is it?
When you know about all these problems, anyone with common sense should then know that the city government should be working 24-7, not for a plan, but for a fix! Why then does our city council have as their first priority, according to former Mayor Chick Young, building an auditorium in Henderson?
Now they have voted to extend a sewer line all the way to Kittrell. Let’s look at what is not known about this new proposed line. Have we been told where it will run or are they going to plan this as they go along? Have we been told how many people will hook on and how much revenue that will generate? Have we been told the overall cost of the line? Have we been told who will own the line and be responsible for the debt? Have we been told how much our sewer rate will be increased to cover the cost? Can anyone show us in Henderson’s budget where this is a capital improvement project?
If anyone can tell me how a sewer line to Kittrell will provide a reliable, dependable, and environmentally-compliant infrastructure system to those of us who live in Henderson, then I’ll say you sure know how to talk sewage. Stay tuned.