In pollution settlement, Memphis to build trails along the sewer lines
Two years after pollution from a series of sewer failures killed thousands of fish, Memphis has agreed to spend $500,000 building trails that will promote recreation while also providing city inspectors access to remote sewer lines for maintenance purposes.
The multipurpose trails — the locations for which haven’t been determined — constitute a “Supplemental Environmental Project” (SEP) required to settle an enforcement case against the city brought by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.
The settlement, contained in a TDEC order signed on May 29, also requires Memphis to pay nearly $100,000 in damages to the two state agencies that investigated the three sewer-line ruptures that occurred during a 19-day period in the spring of 2016. The city is further required to conduct a program ensuring the stability of stream banks carrying buried sewer lines.
In an initial order last year, TDEC had assessed Memphis penalties totaling $500,000. The city appealed, however, prompting negotiations that led to the settlement agreement.
Memphis Public Works Director Robert Knecht said the new order is better for the city than the original. With the trails, the money spent by the city will be invested in the Memphis area rather than getting sent to Nashville in the form of penalties.
“The SEP is something that’s a benefit. It’s not like we’re sending money away and not getting any benefit from it,” Knecht said.
The case stems from the ruptures of a 96-inch interceptor, a 60-inch pipe and a 42-inch line that occurred between March 31 and April 18, 2016, after heavy rain washed out the stream banks in which the pipes were buried.
State officials estimated that more than 350 million gallons of untreated wastewater poured from the 96- and 60inch lines into Cypress Creek and McKellar Lake in Southwest Memphis, killing at least 72,000 fish. The rupture of the 42-inch pipe along the Loosahatchie River, along the city’s northern edge, spewed at least 7.5 million gallons of raw sewage before crews finished a bypass line that ended the leak.
Knecht said the trails will help the city monitor its sewer system for leaks and other problems.
“A lot of it’s in areas that are real remote,” he said.
Memphis will work with the Wolf River Conservancy to identify areas near the Wolf River Greenway where trails could be built to sewer lines. The city also plans to enter into a contract with Christian Brothers University’s Surface Water Institute to help with the project, Knecht said.
Reach Tom Charlier at thomas.charlier@commercialappeal.com or 901529-2572 and on Twitter at @thomasrcharlier