From: Susan Hansen
Sent: Thu Jan 18 09:33:09 2018
To: YELTON-BRAM Tiffany; YELTON-BRAM Tiffany; BACHMAN Jeff; DECONCINI Nina; Richard Whitman
Cc: rdavis@oregonian.com; jason.miner@oregon.gov; grandinetti.robert@epa.gov; wwtp@cityofmolalla.com; jthompson@cityofmolalla.com; kswigart@cityofmolalla.com
Subject: RE: Wastewater Facility & Collection System Master Plan Update | City of Molalla Oregon
Importance: Normal
Tiffany,
This is a REAL TIME capacity issue - kicking the problem down the road till the wished for "solutions" we have heard DEQ beg for - for years and years! - is not a solution to the REAL TIME capacity problems. What is DEQ's solution to quickly solve the CURRENT OVER CAPACITY problems? How many years does DEQ estimate it will take to get a system up and running that has CAPACITY? I read about how long it took Sutherlin to fix its system and we had a presentation last spring with you and Jon from DEQ that showed the long and arduous process it takes just to plan and find funds, let alone find builders and whatever land sites are needed. We are concerned about present conditions! We are sick of hearing the fantasy "someday in the future" stalling stories. DEQ is now part of that problem.
Multiple citizens have pointed out that when there is NO CAPACITY at this moment per multiple reports, it is beyond belief DEQ would allow anymore stress on a system that is now well proven to be OVER CAPACITY. I've been at the City Council meetings where you and other reps asked the City of Molalla to plan ahead and fix problems in a timely manner so we didn't end up with this kind of abject failure. I hold both the City of Molalla and DEQ responsible for putting our environment into this bind.
When do we get a test well program to see where all those 173,000 gallons a day of wastewater are going? Or do the people who depend on groundwater in wells just get to hope they are not suffering from contamination? When does meaningful work get done to improve CURRENT LACK OF CAPACITY? We all know that "finding" $32-38 million (and who knows how much more for fixing the long neglected, leaking pipes that DEQ failed to address over the years as the City of Molalla failed to do competent I&I tests, let alone fix all the broken down pipes that help add to the lack of capacity!) will take a lot of time - it is clear from everything I have read about funding that FIRST there must be a detailed plan in place before EPA or State Revolving funds will even consider a loan.
Does DEQ plan to let the endless excuses about overflowing lagoons allow violation discharges as more and more stress is added to an already OVER CAPACITY system?
So, in brief, no one believes there is any fast or competent "fixes" coming anytime soon. Look how long it took DEQ to finally get concrete proof via Richwine about how the City was actually "operating" its broken down, over capacity "facility" - from what I understand, the way the city claimed the plant was operating vers the truth in the Richwine Report did not mesh. At least now we have the truth out in public.
Susan Hansen
Bear Creek Recovery
> -----Original Message-----
> From: tiffany.yelton-bram@state.or.us
> Sent: Thu, 18 Jan 2018 16:54:33 +0000
> To: foxglovefarm@inbox.com, tiffany.yelton-bram@state.or.us,
> jeff.bachman@state.or.us, nina.deconcini@state.or.us,
> richard.whitman@state.or.us
> Subject: RE: Wastewater Facility & Collection System Master Plan Update |
> City of Molalla Oregon
>
> Susan,
> As part of the work on developing a facility plan (plan for upgrades to
> the sanitary sewer and collection system), Mike Pinney, our senior
> engineer, has been meeting with the city and the Dyer Partnership, the
> consultant writing the report. Dyer provided the smoke test via link to
> the website to Mike as part of the documentation for their development of
> the plan.
>
> Through the facility planning process and the building of the plant
> upgrades and collection system upgrades, the city will fix the capacity
> issue--that is goal we are all moving towards. Mike does the plan and
> specification reviews for collection system expansion, which is when we
> ask for certification of capacity, so I am confident that given his role
> in the facility plan review and the collection system expansion review,
> he will make informed decisions.
>
> Tiffany Yelton Bram
> WQ Source Control Manager
> Northwest Regional Office
> Oregon Department of Environmental Quality
> 700 NE Multnomah St., Suite #600
> Portland OR 97232
>
> Desk 503 229 5219
> Mobile 503 975 0046
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Susan Hansen [mailto:foxglovefarm@inbox.com]
> Sent: Thursday, January 18, 2018 8:32 AM
> To: YELTON-BRAM Tiffany <tiffany.yelton-bram@state.or.us>; BACHMAN Jeff
> <jeff.bachman@state.or.us>; DECONCINI Nina <nina.deconcini@state.or.us>;
> Richard Whitman <richard.whitman@state.or.us>
> Cc: rdavis@oregonian.com; jason.miner@oregon.gov;
> grandinetti.robert@epa.gov; wwtp@cityofmolalla.com;
> jthompson@cityofmolalla.com; kswigart@cityofmolalla.com
> Subject: FW: Wastewater Facility & Collection System Master Plan Update |
> City of Molalla Oregon
>
>
> Dear DEQ,
>
> I assume that Molalla has by now provided you with a copy of the Oct.
> 2017 Smoke Test report? It, just like Richwine, says Molalla's wastewater
> system is over capacity right now. From the report: “…Molalla’s
> collection system and wastewater treatment facility is hydraulically
> overloaded” and over 200 inflow and infiltration problems were
> discovered.
>
> Richwine said that Molalla's capacity is exceeded for influent screening,
> aeration basin function, flotation thickening and effluent filtration.
> Richwine states that the two unlined sewage lagoons are “being stressed
> to operate beyond … capacity at this time”. (And DEQ says those lagoons
> are leaking approx. 173,000 gallons a day into groundwater - and we still
> don't have a plan in place to figure out where all those millions of
> gallons a year are going!).
>
> Since ORS 340-052-0015 (3)(c) requires PROOF OF CAPACITY it certainly
> seems we have multiple reports that prove there is NO SEWAGE PROCESSING
> CAPACITY for growth in Molalla. What is DEQ going to do about that?
>
>
> Susan Hansen
> Bear Creek Recovery