Bethel Heights 2019 timeline

• Feb. 12: ADEQ review of 2017 and 2018 monthly reports from the city shows 30 instances of sewage pooling on the surface and multiple violations of the permit’s requirements for sampling, monitoring and reporting data.

• March 21: ADEQ tells city a Feb. 12 inspection found pooling in several fields and flowing liquid. Equipment was leaking directly onto the field. Inspection also found evidence of runoff from the site. Plant operator says problems have been ongoing since January.

• May 6: ADEQ gives city 90 days to submit a plan for correcting permit violations.

• June 4: ADEQ asks Springdale Water Utilities to refuse water service for new customers in Bethel Heights.

• July 24: ADEQ gives city two days to develop an interim plan after July 16 tests showed fecal coliform levels higher than the laboratory tests typically used to monitor wastewater could measure.

• July 26: ADEQ deadline for interim plan and a plan for communicating wastewater testing results with residents.

• Aug. 1: Benton County prosecutor threatens criminal charges if problems not solved in 30 days. He later declines to file because city was cooperating with ADEQ requests.

• Aug. 6: ADEQ orders city to remove 25 percent of the wastewater via trucks to a licensed facility.

• Aug. 8: Bethel Heights submits to ADEQ corrective plan requested May 6.

• Aug. 9: Deadline for corrective plan.

• Aug. 16: ADEQ fines city $122,000 for operating its wastewater treatment plants outside of compliance, failing to report test results and falsifying reports.

• Sept. 4: ADEQ tells Bethel Heights to stop dumping its wastewater on land not permitted for disposal.

• Sept. 10: Springdale annexes 73 acres of Bethel Heights land owned by Charlotte Steele.

• Sept. 17: ADEQ loosened its requirement for the city to remove wastewater. The agency ruled wastewater must be removed by truck as needed when the system is down for maintenance or the area receives heavy rain. The ADEQ returned decisions about removal to city officials.

• Sept. 21: ADEQ inspects Bethel Heights’ water treatment plants and documents pooling of water on the ground surface.

• Oct. 10: Orenco, the company that designed the wastewater system for the city, reported that a Sept. 10 investigation showed disrepair and capacity overloads were affecting the operation of the plants. Inspections in 2015, 2016 and 2017 revealed similar conditions.

• Oct. 16: Bethel Heights agrees to a settlement of its case with the ADEQ. The agency ordered continued testing and reporting. Fines were reduced to $81,000, and decision-making about the plant was returned to the city.