Raw sewage leaking into Buffalo River

[dogpatch]

I wrote the ADEQ on the complaint form via their website. I also sent a message to Congressman Boozeman (US House), Representative Ragland
(AR House), and will be calling Senator Laverty. (AR senate, couldn't find an e mail address) I'm sure they will find a solution to this, but we need to let them know there are enough folks concerned to move this issue up on their list of priorities. There surely is some kind of funding available for repairing a serious environmental problem, others surely know much more about what's available.

[Prairie Tater]

I received an email from Linda Russell with KY3 News. She plans to do a story on this next week.

Terry

[Prairie Tater]

KY3 report is here: http://www.ky3.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I have to admit I was disappointed that she didn't interview an ADEQ official.

Terry

[Sparky]

I must ademitt it's interesting trying ot acquire facts in theis matter. Mr. e-mail to Sate Rep. Ragland resulted in, "I'm monitoring the situation."

Tony Morris, the field rep for ADEQ called me the other day and we had an extended conversation. Bottom line with him and his water testing is that this sewage is of no threat to the Buffalo. His word was that the sewage from these 40 homes-150 people is attenuated by the time it reaches the slab ford just below Marble Falls (the actual waterfall). I guess Mill Creek serves as a great septic system. He said there was more pollution from Flat Rock Creek and Harp Creek than from the failed lift station. I'm not buying it, neither is BNR according tho the KY3 report.

The Harrison Daily Times has a good folloow-up article on the meeting in Jasper between the home owners and ADEQ higher up's. Jasper field rep Tony Morris did not attend. Hmmmm?

I'm personnally still concerned with all this sewage being dumped near our Arkansas water supply. It comes from an artesian well very near this area and is part of the Basin Valley water district.

Tony told me he welcomes any and all questions concerning this issue.
Tony Morris ADEQ Field Rep.
870-446-2770
morris@adeq.state.ar.us.

Brent

[Sparky]

I must ademitt it's interesting trying ot acquire facts in theis matter. Mr. e-mail to Sate Rep. Ragland resulted in, "I'm monitoring the situation."

Tony Morris, the field rep for ADEQ called me the other day and we had an extended conversation. Bottom line with him and his water testing is that this sewage is of no threat to the Buffalo. His word was that the sewage from these 40 homes-150 people is attenuated by the time it reaches the slab ford just below Marble Falls (the actual waterfall). I guess Mill Creek serves as a great septic system. He said there was more pollution from Flat Rock Creek and Harp Creek than from the failed lift station. I'm not buying it, neither is BNR according tho the KY3 report.

The Harrison Daily Times has a good folloow-up article on the meeting in Jasper between the home owners and ADEQ higher up's. Jasper field rep Tony Morris did not attend. Hmmmm?

I'm personnally still concerned with all this sewage being dumped near our Arkansas water supply. It comes from an artesian well very near this area and is part of the Basin Valley water district.

Tony told me he welcomes any and all questions concerning this issue.
Tony Morris ADEQ Field Rep.
870-446-2770
morris@adeq.state.ar.us.

Brent

[Jim Krueger]

Sparky, Dogpatch,

Since you guys live in the area, can you give more insight into the larger workings of the sewage system. I certainly understand about the defunct lift station currently but I'm curious where the sewage went once it was pumped uphill from the station. Is there a municipal sewage line running to Marble Falls from either Harrison or Jaspers municipal system? Or did the builders of Dogpatch in the 1960s build their own commercial-sized septic system somewhere else on their property to which they could pump the waste?
I've lived for many years on a farm, and community in which individual septic systems have been, and will continue to be the only way to handle households and businesses.


Thank You

Jim

[Prairie Tater]

This is interesting:

http://www.adeq.state.ar.us/ftproot/pub ... 03-049.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Evidently, problems have been ongoing here for over 10 years. From this, I'm gathering that they have some kind of mechanical treatment with a biological polishing pond following. It also has a chlorinating unit to treat the effluent. It was probably a good treatment plant when it was new. However, these plants need routine maintenance and need to be inspected daily. This is an expense which I am only guessing the homeowners did not want to share. And it seems the ADEQ really did nothing to motivate them, except to write them up.

The biggest problem I see with the plant is that there was no emergency power system. With no power, the sump pumps in the lift stations allowed the station to fill with run-off which took out all of the electrical componets.

IMHO, the homeowners should each install their own septic tank, which would avoid future problems. If the plant is fixed, who is to say this all won't happen again? I believe it most likely would. :roll:

Prater

[Richard]

Karst Topography (Limestone caves and underground rivers) presents a particularly difficult problem with sewage disposal. There are underground waterways that bring water from Crooked Creek watershed into the Buffalo and visa versa. A study at Gilbert found that some septic systems were feeding sewage directly into underground water that then emptied into the Buffalo. So to say that individual septic systems could be the solution may turn out to be a bigger problem.

I would not want to be a homeowner in this area right now. I would feel very overwhelmed and it looks like no agency is willing to step forward with assistance to correct the problem. I would hate to see them fined as a result of this. I think a stop gap solution needs to be provided. It is their watershed and they ultimately should carry the bulk of the burden but it may not be reasonable to expect them to do so at this time. I think this is something the ACC should monitor and search for a reasonable solution.

BTW, here is a direct link to the ky3 news item. http://www.ky3.com/news/local/79453782.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Jim Krueger]

Richard,

I agree, the topography, and geology of the area make the situation that much more sensitive. I'm sorry the residents came to rely on a system that wasn't theirs to maintain and also sorry the creation of Dogpatch probably fostered more development along the creek than there might have been otherwise.


Jim

[Allen Rittman]

Is it the houses down by the lake or up on top of the mountain? And I’m curios too; the wife and I were stay in a cabin back in September and we drover up on top of the mountain. It was sad to see it in such bad shape after having so much fun up there when I was kid. And I did not realize the Post Office was still open and operating. There is a gate at the back of the parking lot that whet back to a camp ground. Is that were it is being pumped to? And I think Richard is right a septic system might leach more contaminates into the ground and then it would be DO DO Mountain! I’m with Debo Have the ADEQ shut the water off use it as a bargaining chip; it will not be off forever. It seems like the home owners have little or no interest in fixing the problem so call their hand. And nobody is going to die without running water, they still make bottled water. And I promises and some guys wife and daughter don’t have running water for a few days things are going to get real tense and somebody will give in a pay to have it fixed. If not it could be a long dry winter. Because until you do, nothing will probably get done to resolve the issue. The First line on the ADEQ web site reads as follows;

ADEQ protects the air, water and land from the threat of pollution. We strive for environmental quality through programs of regulation, education and assistance.

So assist! Protect the water in the buffalo from pollution! Put regulations on a community that is polluting! Give them a date to have it fixed by or the water gets shut off.

It’s hard to believe that the state is so strict on home septic systems and no one will step up and help resolve the situation. If someone did they would be the hero how saved the Buffalo from DO DO! And does anyone now how much money we are talking about to make the repair 10k, 100k 1mil? Maybe we can sell cakes or pies or puppies. Maybe we could have on of those High School fund raisers were they sell chocolate bars maybe some Baby Ruth’s!! Well maybe not in this case.

Is it a matter of replacing a pump and electrical control gear with a little new pipe thrown in or is it more involved than that. And I don’t know who asked first but were is it going? Well it’s running down hill now but I bet there is place on top of that mountain that it is suppose to be going. And what kind of shape is that pipe in? This is a big problem that will probably not be going away anytime soon.

Most of us love the Buffalo and we should figure out someway to help with this situation. Keeping it in the news will help. I don’t really thing writing to politicians is a viable solution, until some how it threatens their re-election. That’s, that’s just my wrong opinion!

And since that place was built in the sixties has regional sewer made it to that area and if so can this be tied into it?

I don’t understand if there is money to be had to fix it why can’t we get it and send Cowper to oversee a crew and fix the dang thing!

What if some how we could get companies from around the state to donate equipment and labor to make the repair? I’m sure it’s not that simple and will not be a simple issue to resolve and the long time goes on the more this problem will continue to compound!

Where the hell is the Sierra Club??

In a way it’s kind of funny the park service is trying to figure out how to control human waist in the river corridor and it’s running into from out side the corridor. I have often wondered why they ran folks off like Granny Henderson now I’m beginning to understand a little better.

It makes me wonder if this was happening to the Middle Fork what would happen.

Can we get companies across the state to donate parts and labor to make the repair and they get some free TV air time for a PSA?

Isn’t there a fund for environmental improvements that the gas companies have to pay a tax to?

There has to be something we can collectively do march on the governors office.


BLOW LOG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Clif]

Understand the sentiment... but I understood there is help waiting... legal issues are the holdup. As in not even sure who owns or is legally responsible?

I bet if they were trying to figure who had mineral rights to be paid someone would claim it??

[dogpatch]

I spoke with Raymond Hefley, the former administrator of the sewer district, and one of the persons named in the Harrison Paper's news article. His position is that they are aware that something will have to be done, because of the press coverage and the pressure from ADEQ and the state attorney general's office. The question is what and how. He said the next step is to call another meeting after Christmas and hopefully generate interest from other users of the system. He (they?) have talked with a civil engineer in Harrison who is apparently willing to consult with them on the problem. Since ownership of the land the lift station is located on is in question, that may be the first issue that needs to be resolved.

[Prairie Tater]

Here is the link to the HDT's coverage of the meeting in Harrison on Monday:
http://www.harrisondailytimes.com/artic ... 678523.txt" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I think Mr. Hefley deserves a lot of credit for bringing this all to light. He seems to be very concerned about water quality down there and is probably a good wastewater treatment operator. I can only imagine what he has gone through. Evidently, he was hauling the untreated sewage out of the area whenever the lift station got full. And he did this at his own expense. So I personally thank you, sir.

In regards to septic tanks: Yes, I agree that they are not the best form of treament, especially here in these porous Ozark hills. However, if maintained properly, they can be very efficient. There are also add-on treatments you can install with them such as sand filters and bio filters which will increase their efficiency. More people are moving into the "hills" all the time. It will be impossible to run sewer lines to connect them all to a central location for wastewater treatment. BTW, did you know that one quarter of North America's population depends on septic tanks for treatment of their wastewater?

Prater

[Richard]

BTW, did you know that one quarter of North America's population depends on septic tanks for treatment of their wastewater?

1/4? Sounds reasonable when that includes Mexico & central America, the far reaches of Canada and Arkansas.

[Richard]

I spoke with the Health Dept, Boone and Newton Co. sanitation specialist, Scott Moore 870-743-5831
We had a long and informative conversation. The Marble Falls sanitation system was built over 40 years ago and was damaged by the Feb 2009 ice storm. The system was designed for a much larger home owner base and is much more expensive to maintain than one sized to the current needs.

Bottom line of our conversation was that because the Ozarks is a Karst Topography, just about all water, other than rain, entering the Buffalo is at least somewhat contaminated because of what enters sink holes and reemerges as springs that feed into the Buffalo. This includes the cow that just died, chicken litter, improper disposal of unusable chemicals, fertilizer and other polluting materials. He said in the 10 years he has been on the job he has only once seen a spring water quality analysis that did not show at least some e-coli.
He said the e-coli colony count to require action is 125 times more lenient for swimming areas than that of drinking water.
The health dept does not have oversight authority when it comes to municipal type systems. He also said the individual properties are too small to allow individual septic or composting systems to be installed.

I spoke with Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) enforcement officer Marilyn Stout 501-682-0630. She wrote the original order requiring them to bring the system into compliance but it has since been moved out of her hands. It has now been transferred to the AG's office and the contact person there is Kendra Jones 501-682-2007.

I will be calling Kendra Jones.

It is my understanding that the Marble Falls POA has a new president and they are working to get funds to enable them to bring the system into compliance.

For users of the Buffalo, it is not as pollution free as what would be desired even without the additional Marble falls problem.