EPD launches inspection into Valdosta plant - WALB.com, Albany News, Weather, Sports

EPD launches inspection into Valdosta plant

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VALDOSTA, GA (WALB) -

The Georgia Environmental Protection Division wants to know why the city of Valdosta shut down its wastewater treatment plan during heavy flooding.

Millions of gallons of sewage spilled into the Withlacoochee River. City leaders say they had no choice.

But the state could fine the city and force Valdosta to relocate the plant no matter what the cost.

After the Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant went offline for three days and spilled millions of gallons of sewage into the waterways, city officials are now facing a major inspection by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division.

"We sent them all the information that we had, you know explanations why we did what we did. We want the meeting, I actually called them this morning to see if we could try and set something up this week," said Henry Hicks, Valdosta Utilities Director.

It's possible, the EPD could issue a consent order that would force the city to resolve sewage flooding issues immediately, regardless of the solution's steep price tag.

"I hope that they can help with the funding, we've already applied for a $32 million force main project," said Hicks.

A force main would pump the sewage under pressure to the new relocated plant. Officials have scaled down FEMA's original plant relocation estimate from $94 million to a total price tag of $55 million. The city could also face fines by EPD for shutting the plant down during the flooding.

"You have to consider so many different factors: what was going on, if anybody could prevent it, and why in advance was nothing planned for it," said Marzieh Shahbazaz, EPD Municipal Compliance Manager.

EPD officials say shutting down a wastewater treatment plant is a very serious issue. "They shut it down for almost three days and that's a very significant issue," said Shahbazaz.

"We shut down the plant to save the plant, I mean there's more damage if you let the plant continue to run and then it becomes overwhelmed in flood waters, you're going to do more damage to it," said Hicks.

The meeting with EPD will most likely take place this week in Atlanta.

EPD officials say it could take 1 to 2 months to draft a consent order with the exact steps the city will need to take to fix the plant's issues. And from there it could take a few years to get the plant in compliance.

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