Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation Commissioner Robert Martineau has issued an order for the city of Madisonville to submit and complete a new corrective action plan to get its current wastewater discharge location at Bat Creek back into compliance.
The order comes on the heels of Madisonville officials submitting a new National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit in March, which is currently considered incomplete.
TDEC Communications Officer Kelly Brockman said Madisonville must remedy its current noncompliance issues with an existing agreed order given more than five years ago, comply with the anti-degradation provision of Tennessee water quality standards and work with TDEC Division of Water Resources to determine that the proposed plan will not violate quality standards.
Brockman said the agreed order issued more than five years ago resulted in a corrective action plan that called for constructing a new treatment plant, converting the existing facility into a peak flow equalization basin and building a main to discharge effluent into the Tellico Reservoir via Tellico Reservoir Development Agency’s outfall.
Plans with TRDA faltered in January 2013 after a dispute on treatment fees.
“There’s nothing in the order that we can’t comply with, and, of course, we’ll do whatever’s in the order required for us to do and proceed in the manner that the order gives us directions to do,” Glenn Moser, Madisonville mayor, said.
Moser said the city’s new wastewater treatment plant will be located adjacent to the current facility, and hopes are to put the project out to bid either toward the end of this year or the beginning of next year. Initial plans include discharging into Tellico Lake, but that could change depending on which location TDEC deems appropriate for an outfall, Moser said.
Brockman said plans to build a new treatment facility “have not yet been submitted.”
TRDA has an outfall at river marker 16.1, and the city currently discharges into Bat Creek at marker 19.3.
“Madisonville would need a new discharge permit for a discharge to Tellico Reservoir in order to further pursue this alternative,” Brockman said. “Permit consideration for a new outfall will not be processed until the application package is considered complete; a complete application must include alternatives to a new outfall.”
Per the order, Madisonville discharge monitoring reports tallied 126 violations during a period from January 2013 to April 2014, including 60 ammonia nitrogen violations, 22 overflows of the collection system and 13 dissolved oxygen violations.
Bill Waldrop, chairman of the Water Quality Improvement Committee, submitted a letter in March on behalf of the Watershed Association of the Tellico Reservoir expressing his concerns with Madisonville’s course of actions. Waldrop, WATeR member John Rogers and Tennessee Clean Water Network attorney Stephanie Matheny met with TDEC representatives about a month ago, he said.
“We discussed our concern with Madisonville’s proposed plan to treat their wastewater and pump it to Tellico Lake,” Waldrop said. “I presented water quality data that I pulled from TVA’s database to explain the basis for our concerns. They seemed to understand why we are objecting, but I have heard nothing further.”
Waldrop said he believes discharging into Bat Creek is a more viable option for Madisonville.
“This order documents the flagrant history of violations of environmental laws by Madisonville, and TDEC’s inability to enforce compliance with environmental standards,” Waldrop said. “Unfortunately, I expect the city to appeal this legal action and thereby delay the implementation of any changes until early next year.”
Water Quality Improvement Committee member Dick Sawinski agreed with Waldrop, saying discharging into Bat Creek would be best for Madisonville because the stream would give the water enough “time for sunlight, oxidation for additional polishing treatment.”
