Perryville faces dilemma with aging sewer plant

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- In the midst of what Mayor Debbie Gahan calls "a regulatory vortex," the city could face expensive choices concerning its wastewater treatment system.

At its regular meeting Tuesday night, the Perryville board of aldermen heard a presentation on problems with the plant's sand filter, which removes particulate matter from wastewater as part of the treatment process.

Repairing the filter could cost $300,000; replacing it with a newer technology that uses cloth as the filtration medium could cost $700,000, city manager Brent Buerck said in a telephone interview Wednesday.

"Quite honestly, neither choice is good -- one because it's expensive, and one because sand-filter technology is from the '50s and had its heyday in the '80s," Buerck said.

Perryville's plant was installed in the 1970s, he said.

The filter's deterioration coincides with two other issues: Federal water-quality standards are increasing, and the city's state wastewater treatment permit is up for renewal, Buerck said.

"It's a perfect storm between three different things going on," he said. " ... We're trying to review the three and figure out the best way to proceed."

Reached by telephone Wednesday, Gahan expressed frustration with unfunded mandates from federal regulators.

"I'm calling this the regulatory vortex. As they keep throwing more and more things into what's required of us ... we're just at a loss to be able to keep up with it, and it's costing and costing and costing, and we have no say. I'm frustrated," she said.

Current water-quality demands have exceeded the technological capacities of the plant, Gahan said.

"The bottom line is we put this sewer treatment plant in when the regulations said, 'You have to do a number of things,' and this met and exceeded that ... but as they keep asking us to remove things that this plant is not geared for, then we have the option of building a new plant ... or we can tack on new pieces to our existing plant," she said.

Tacking on new pieces may not be the best solution, Buerck said.

"If you take an old car, and you put new wheels on it, you still have an old car," he said.

Concerns about wildlife have prompted some of the new federal standards, Buerck said.

For instance, to protect a sensitive species of mussel, the Environmental Protection Agency has dropped the maximum amount of ammonia allowed in treated water, he said.

Future requirements could be even tougher. For instance, Buerck and Gahan said the EPA is considering standards that in some ways would require treated wastewater to be cleaner than the water flowing from residents' taps. "We understand," Gahan said. "We don't want to be putting anything out there from our plant that's dangerous, but in the case of copper, we're going to be putting out an effluent that has less copper in it than the water that we drink."

Buerck said the city is working with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources -- which issues wastewater treatment permits -- to find ways to meet the standards.

"We've always found DNR to be a good partner in wanting to work with us to make it work," he said. " ... They want to help keep us in compliance."

epriddy@semissourian.com

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Pertinent address:

Perryville, MO