Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
The Town of Garfield was granted 90 days to get its Wastewater Treatment Plant back in line with its state permit during a crowded city council meeting April 13.
Appearing before the council were Department of Ecology representatives Ellie Key and Diana Washington.
Speaking to Mayor Ray McCown and the council, Washington explained time is running short on the directive for the town to have a new Level II Operator for the plant.
“The amount of time spent at the plant is however long it takes to run it right,” said Washington, Water Quality Section supervisor, Eastern Region.“I don’t have any room anymore. You’ve put me in a box, you’ve made me uncomfortable.”
She noted Key, a permit manager for the Eastern Region, handles 30 permits.
“We give you time, we can’t do the footwork for you,” Washington said. “I hope you have a position listed soon. It’s more and more difficult for me not to pull the trigger on other options. We have to fix this. Or I’ll be back here in 90 days with a piece of paper. Get yourself an operator.”
“We will welcome you,” said McCown. “We do believe the numbers are going down.”
Key then spoke.
“It can be fleeting if you’re not on top of it all the time,” she said.
Questions
The council then went on to other business before the public input section of the agenda.
At the prompt, resident Rebecca Jones said she had something to say on the treatment plant matter.
“We’ve discussed the treatment plant,” McCown said.
She assured him she had something that had not been discussed, and McCown said to go ahead.
Jones noted her concern was that having volunteers at the treatment plant was a potential liability.
“It’s my belief that can’t continue,” Jones said.
“I’ll check with our attorney tomorrow,” McCown said.
Dave Ullrich, councilman and former public works director for Garfield, is now volunteering time at the plant.
“What, if anything, has been done about the claim of a hostile work environment for employees?” Jones said, explaining her concern about potential lawsuits.
Garfield Public Works employees who work on the plant are Brad Hasenoerhl and Mark Phillips.
“Tell you the truth, I haven’t seen any hostile work environment,” said McCown. “I’ve supported Brad more than anyone. There’s nothing going on.”
“The last meeting indicated something else,” Jones said, referring to the March 23 city council meeting in which Hasenoerhl stated he has been working in a hostile work environment for the past year.
Resident Jerry Love spoke next.
“We intend to record city council meetings from now on,” he said.
Tim Southern, former council member, spoke.
“What’s the outlook for the 90 days? A plan, an idea?”
“We are desperately looking,” McCown said. “We have a committee looking.”
Later, for the council public works report section, Hasenoehrl addressed the council.
“Fecal numbers are down to 14 – that puts us into compliance,” he said.
Two years
After a DOE inspection in Garfield in April of 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.
Key, the DOE permit manager, at that time 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.
McCown told the Gazette after the April 13 council meeting that Hasenoehrl and Phillips will go to wastewater plant Level I-II training in Spokane beginning June 2 to take the test after the week-long classes.
McCown indicated that the two have not yet been to training in order to save time and money by not sending the city employees to earlier sessions elsewhere around the state.
Phillips would aim to be a Level I Operator while Hasenoehrl aims for Level II – for which he will not be fully eligible until September due to requirements for how long someone has been on the job.
If McCown is not able to find an operator – which would require one day per week on site – another option may be to hire a private company, such as Evergreen Rural Water of Washington.
“We’re working definitively to get it going. It’s been a constant fight for two years,” he said.
Pomeroy deal
Last December, a pending interlocal agreement between Garfield and Pomeroy for aid on the Garfield plant fell through.
In November, McCown directed City Attorney Stephen Bishop to draw up an agreement in order for Pomeroy’s Wastewater Treatment Plant Operator, Willie Graham, to spend one day per week in Garfield to train Hasenoehrl and Phillips.
The plan ultimately came apart when Graham decided not to participate.
The proposed arrangement would have brought Graham to Garfield weekly for two to three months – then taper to once per month – as Garfield continued to work with the Department of Ecology to address plant violations.
The town does not have a licensed operator at present. Filling that role on an interim basis has been David Tysz, a retired wastewater superintendent for Tekoa.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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