MAGNOLIA, Miss. (AP) - A difficult decision looms for Magnolia officials, and the only two options will be expensive - and expansive.
The city is coming to grips with what to do with its wastewater disposal system, environmental permits for which expired long ago.
Officials have two choices - build their own plant or tie in to McComb’s wastewater treatment facility.
Either will be expensive, but “not doing anything isn’t an option,” Mayor Anthony Witherspoon said.
The city currently uses two lagoons for wastewater disposal. However, environmental regulations are pushing Magnolia and other municipalities toward a more environmentally sound alternative.
“Regulations have gotten stricter in the last couple years, and the city of Magnolia has been hit with additional fines and penalties,” said Keith Lott of Neel-Schaffer Engineering, which is assisting Magnolia in the matter.
The problem with sewage lagoons stems from the amount of water they receive and the lagoon infrastructure itself. While lagoons can take in about 700,000 gallons a day, that may go up to a million gallons during heavy rains. Infiltration of water through cracks occurs as well, and untreated water mixes with treated water. Both these occurrences dilute the chemical treatment of the water.
“We are on the verge of some serious problems with wastewater lagoons, and we are making good faith efforts to the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality to make changes,” Witherspoon said.
He said the city has hired a bond attorney to make a determination about the cost of possible projects to fix the wastewater problem.
The city of Magnolia had an original contact date of April 17 to meet with MDEQ officials, but Witherspoon requested more time to prepare possible plans, meet with an attorney and consider the town’s options.
The city is applying for up to $10 million in funding for the projects, which Witherspoon said will help determine its borrowing capacity.
If the decision is made to tie into the McComb plant, a series of lift stations and pumps will be necessary. Witherspoon said initial estimates are about $7 to $8 million dollars to tie into the McComb plant, not including contingencies and unexpected costs.
McComb built its intentionally oversized $34 million wastewater treatment plant a few years ago, with plans to treat wastewater for Summit, Magnolia and the Metro-Pike Industrial Park, all of which were using lagoons with expiring wastewater discharge permits.
Summit officials decided to build their own plant to the tune of about $3 million after negotiations between Summit and McComb officials over the cost of treating Summit’s wastewater broke down.
Mayor Percy Robinson said the cost of operating the facility is still a little more than the combined operation costs of its three former sewage lagoons but less than it would have cost to pay McComb to treat wastewater.
Magnolia, however, may not have the option to build its own plant since nothing has been done to remedy the problem in years.
“McComb has the capacity to handle what we bring to them. We’d rather do it that way, but it depends on what MDEQ says,” Magnolia Alderman Lonnie Cox said.
If it is determined that tying into the McComb facility is the best option, Magnolia will not be the only one involved; it will require the assistance of Pike County supervisors, who Witherspoon expects to help with construction costs.
At their March board meeting, aldermen approved the mayor’s request for the town to enter into an interlocal agreement between the town, McComb and Pike County.
“We previously had a commitment from the county to help with the infrastructure, lines and lift stations. If we tie into McComb through the industrial park, (supervisors) will be involved as well,” Witherspoon said.
The mayor hopes to meet with MDEQ officials before the month is out and return to the board in May with an update of which direction to proceed.
Either way, it’s going to be a grind on city resources.
“We are looking at unfunded mandates here,” Witherspoon said. “If we keep our current lagoon system, we will continue to be in violation of regulations, and we will continue to be fined. Which direction do we go in? We aren’t sure right now.”
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Information from: Enterprise-Journal, https://www.enterprise-journal.com
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