RULING MAY COST MILLIONS

JACKSON -- The city of Jackson got a surprise from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources that may cost its citizens to upgrade the waste-water treatment plant. The plant was just upgraded in 1989.

Jackson Utilities and Public Works Director Mark Brown was notified June 14 by the DNR that it is reducing the biochemical oxygenated demand (BOD) level in the effluent leaving the Jackson waste-water treatment plant.

BOD is the amount of bacteria -- good or bad -- in the liquid effluent that continues to use and deplete oxygen in the water after it leaves the treatment plant.

The DNR permit for the Jackson waste-water plant now limits the amount of BOD in the effluent to no more than 30 parts per million. The DNR wants to drop that to 10ppm -- a level that city officials said could make the waste-water treatment plant obsolete in five years.

Brown said that while the new ruling will not immediately affect the operation of the plant, "It will certainly affect the operational life of the plant. It will significantly shorten the useful life of the plant without another upgrade."

Brown said the city plans to appeal the ruling. The city has 30 days after the notice is received to file an appeal.

If the appeal is rejected, Brown said Jackson faces several expensive alternatives. Brown said, "Our DNR permit allows a maximum of 30ppm BOD.

"We are doing a good job in treating the waste water. We're well below the maximum level in our permit. Now the DNR tells us that 30ppm is not acceptable and we must reduce that to 10ppm.

"The frustrating thing about all of this is that we just completed an expensive upgrade of the waste-water treatment plant in 1989, which was approved by the same state agency that now tells us we have to reduce our BOD level.

"We are, in effect, being penalized for doing such a good job of treating our waste water. The result is the citizens' multimillion dollar investment is going to be a short-lived investment."

When the 1989 upgrade was completed, the plant had a design life of about 20 years. According to Jim Lunsford, waste-water plant manager, the original plant was built in 1952, and enlarged in 1968.

In the 1989 upgrading, the method of treating the waste-water changed from trickling filters to oxidation ditches to increase the capacity of the plant.

The 1989 upgrade cost $3.2 million, and included construction of two sewer interceptor lines to the plant on South Lee Avenue. Of the $3.2 million, $1.5 million came from a federal EPA grant, $719,000 from the Missouri DNR, and $900,000 from city funds.

Lunsford said the plant is designed to handle a daily average flow of 2.4 million gallons per day, or a maximum flow of 9.3 million gallons per day for no more than 304 days, based on a 30ppm BOD level.

Right now the plant handles an average daily flow of just under 1.5 million gallons per day, or about half of its capacity.

It now has a current design life of 17 years at the 30ppm BOD level. Lunsford said, "If we are forced to reduce the BOD level from 30 to 10ppm, because of the additional hydraulic loading during wet weather, we'll exceed the 10ppm level within five years."

Brown said the DNR ruling could also hurt the city's chances of attracting new industry. He said: "The capacity of the waste-water plant is a part of our infrastructure. The capacity of the plant is just as important to an industry as electric and water service and streets.

"Industries that use a lot of water, or those that would increase the BOD load, would not be able to locate in Jackson unless the plant was upgraded.

"It's really a shame to spend the kind of money they did in 1989, and think that our investment would last 20 years, and now the DNR tells us we have to spend more of the citizens' money to meet the new requirements. What they have done is change the rules in the middle of the stream. It is unfair to the citizens of Jackson, who will wind up paying for another upgrade of the plant."

Lunsford said Jackson isn't the only community to feel the impact of the DNR. He said the city of Joplin just put its new waste-water treatment plant on line earlier this year. "Three months later the DNR came back and lowered their BOD level," said Lunsford.