For those driving Main Street in Newcastle in recent weeks, they’ll likely note that there have been days when the smell of sewer has been a stench in their nostrils.
On a visit to the sewer plant on Monday, the stench was much more sedate, not necessarily fragrant, but way more tolerable.
It appears the actions taken by the City have made a difference.
In a post on social media, the City Manager’s office said, “The city is aware of the less-than-desirable odor permeating the air around the center of town. Quite honestly it is disgusting, and we are working to resolve the problem.”
The statement continues to say that the City’s wastewater engineer determined the root cause to be sludge age and volume in the aeration basins at the current sewer plant.
“The City immediately began implementing mitigation measures recommended by our engineer, and crews are steadily working to resolve the issue.”
They added a thank you note for the citizen’s patience and understanding.
Mayor Karl Nail said City staff worked on the problem with Brandon Wall, engineer for the City’s new plant that is about to be constructed.
Nail said “One thing that happened is the bacteria in our digesters experienced a die off. When that happens the plant struggles to treat the sewage adequately.”
Nail said the City was still chorinating and dechlorinating at the time, so all sewage was treated before being released.
The Mayor also said the City removed old sludge out of the basins, and made some changes to the way some maintenance was being performed.
He said the only time the City has experienced something similar was when there was some type of industrial discharge into the system, or an illegal septic tank cleanup release into the City’s system.
He said this can cause the bacteria die off, and the City doesn’t have any control when someone illegally dumps into the system.
“The plant has always had an odor, but this time it was more than usual,” Nail said. “We’re trying to do everything we can out there to correct this.”
In related news, the City is looking to schedule a ground breaking for the new Wastewater Treatment Facility in November.
Nail said the funding for this facility is in place through the Oklahoma Water Resources Board, as well as money that the City Council has set aside.
He added that there may be some additional assistance to the City for this $52 million project, that would reduce the amount the City has to borrow.
