Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
A proposal for Pomeroy to assist Garfield with training at its wastewater treatment plant has fallen through, Garfield Mayor Ray McCown was notified Dec. 7.
In November, McCown directed City Attorney Stephen Bishop to draw up a proposal for Pomeroy's Wastewater Treatment Plant Operator Willie Graham to spend one day per week in Garfield to train their two public works employees, Brad Hasenoehrl and assistant Mark Phillips.
“It's not because the city was unwilling to participate,” said Pomeroy Mayor G. Paul Miller. “We had it ready to vote on and our operator desired not to participate. We're sorry that we were not able to help them out.”
The proposed arrangement would have brought Graham to Garfield once a week for two to three months and then taper to once per month as Garfield continues to work with the Department of Ecology to address violations at their treatment plant.
“Something is not quite right at the plant,” McCown commented.
Garfield does not have a licensed operator at present. Filling that role on an interim basis is David Tysz, a retired wastewater superintendent for Tekoa.
McCown indicated that Garfield's plan is to have both Hasenoehrl and Phillips become certified, but classes are offered at long intervals.
Pomeroy has a similar plant to Garfield, which led to the interlocal proposal.
McCown is now seeking an agreement with another town.
“Pomeroy is not the only one with a plant similar to ours,” he said.
After a DOE inspection in Garfield in April 2014, a discharge violation regarding ammonia and fecal coliform limits was issued, followed by another notice of violation three months later.
The town then entered into an agreement under order by the Department of Ecology with prescriptive criteria – related to operations and maintenance – to bring the plant into compliance.
The Garfield violations were in the realm of effluent limits, which are the levels of discharge tolerable without harming aquatic life.
To address the violations, DOE Permit Manager Ellie Key suggested the plant may need to pay a contract operator to act as a mentor.
The Garfield plant discharges into Silver Creek which flows into the North Fork of the Palouse River at Elberton.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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