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IDEM
reviewing city's long-term sewer plan
South Bend
Tribune - 8/9
PLYMOUTH -- The
Plymouth Wastewater and Sewer Department has addressed two items
in its Combined Sewer Long-Term Control Plan requested by the
Indiana Department of Environmental Management.
IDEM asked for
language that binds the city to its proposed plan, Donnie
Davidson, waste-water and sewer superintendent, said.
Davidson said the
plan was submitted to IDEM to show how the city plans to reduce
the number of E. coli bacteria in the Yellow River.
IDEM followed up
with a completeness review to determine if Plymouth covered all
the points in its plan that are found in Environmental Protection
Agency guidelines.
"Two items
were noted," Davidson explained. "They found there was
no language in the plan that ... we have implemented the nine
control points (to reduce harmful overflow) and they also want a
specific commitment that we will follow through with the
operational plan we outlined."
That's no
problem, Davidson assured, since the nine control points already
are under way. As outlined in previous public meetings about the
combined sewer plan, there are nine locations where city workers
are implementing tools that include filters to separate sediment,
oil and grease, as well as other contaminants, from water runoff
flowing into the Yellow River.
Following the
operational plan is also exactly what Davidson and the city want
to do.
"There are
certain things our community wants to do to be responsible,"
Davidson said.
One of those
things is a four-year program to clean, inspect and repair
existing sewers, locating points of inflow as the work is
performed. Davidson said crews intend to work on one-fourth of the
city's geography per year, using televising equipment that allows
workers to see inside the sewer line.
Additional
equipment acquired over the past 10 years -- including two sewer
cleaning units, a smoke testing unit and others -- mean city
workers can save residents nearly $3 million by doing a lot of the
required work instead of contracting it out. If the work in Phase
I were to be contracted out, Davidson said, it would cost nearly
$3.9 million. He and others are hoping that completion of Phase I
could place Plymouth in complete compliance, especially since IDEM
is considering removal or modifications of some restrictions it
currently places on cities.
"I think
IDEM ... is getting a realistic idea that some of these things are
impossible in big cities like Indianapolis," Davidson said.
Indianapolis
authorities, in trying to circumvent federal and state guidelines
regarding defining various uses of its riverways, have tried
unsuccessfully to claim no use.
IDEM has not yet
approved Plymouth's long-term sewer plan. The agency has more than
100 such plans on its desks following the June 30 deadline for
that paperwork. Officials at the agency have given no time frame
in which they hope to have the plans reviewed.
Davidson isn't
worried about IDEM's backlog, though.
"If it is
approved, then we're ahead of the game," he said.
The Plymouth
Sanitary Board of Trustees approved the draft plan after several
months of meetings, and consultation with representatives from
Commonwealth Biomonitoring Inc., Indianapolis, which is the firm
assisting with preparation and implementation of the plan.
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