Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Water Samples Taken From Stream Near Sewer System
PRAIRIE GROVE — At the request of Prairie Grove and Washington County officials, water samples were taken for analysis Thursday afternoon from six sites along an Illinois River tributary that runs through parts of Valley View subdivision.
Samples were taken at sites upstream and downstream from the aeration pond for Washington County Property Owners Improvement District No. 5, the sanitary waste treatment and disposal system that serves Valley View subdivision. Preliminary results will be available in about a week, according to Dr. Brian Haggard, director of Arkansas Water Resource Center with University of Arkansas.
Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality issued an emergency order April 1 to Joe Stewart, chairman of the Improvement
District’s Commission, after repeated inspections in March found untreated wastewater overflowing onto the golf course at Valley View from the system’s holding cell, a pond with aerators that pump oxygen into the water to break up solids and eliminate odors.
The emergency order, issued by ADEQ Director Becky Keogh, required the improvement district to cease and desist the overflow. It gave Stewart and the improvement district five days to provide evidence that remedial actions had been completed.
ADEQ has yet to receive any of this documentation, according to Katherine Benenati, public outreach and assistance division chief.
In April, Stewart took issue with the emergency order issued by ADEQ, saying the overflow was not an emergency or a reason to panic.
“It was a small overflow that was treated, cleaned and done correctly,” Stewart said during an interview April 10. During the same interview, Stewart stressed that the system is not leaking untreated wastewater into nearby tributaries.
Despite repeated attempts, Stewart could not be reached last week for further comment.
The county is primarily concerned because of the situation in April, said Steve Zega, Washington County attorney.
“It was a public health hazard,” he said.
Zega and other county and Prairie Grove officials met at the aeration pond in April after the emergency order had been issued. Following that meeting, Richard Murphree, manager for Northwest Region of Arkan- sas Department of Health who also was on site at the meeting, said the area had been cleaned up to his satisfaction.
Zega said the county also is concerned because the holding cell is near the tributary that goes into the Illinois River.
“Are we in danger of running afoul of Oklahoma again with nutrient levels?” Zega wondered.
Haggard took samples at six public access points from the middle of the stream and took two samples from one site as a field duplicate. These samples will be taken to a certified lab at the University of Arkansas to be analyzed for indicators of human impact.
“We are looking to see if there are any abrupt changes in chemical concentrations,” Haggard said. “If there are abrupt changes, it usually means there is more of a point source for the changes.”
Results that show gradual chemical changes from upstream to downstream usually are more indicative of broader impacts of urban and agricultural land use within the watershed, Haggard said.
If test results show an abrupt change, further sampling would be required to narrow down where an abrupt change occurs.
“All you can say is that something changes between those two sites but you don’t really know what,” he said.
Larry Oelrich, director of administrative services and public works for Prairie Grove, said issues with the improvement district have been ongoing for years. He said he sent a letter to ADEQ with concerns about the sewer system as early as 2006.
Sampling the stream will provide more information to public officials, Oelrich said.
“The first thing to do is to identify if there is man-made pollution,” Oelrich said. “I think we need more information to ensure there is not a continuing problem.”
Lab work will cost $1,000 and the city and county will each pay $500.
ADEQ is still waiting for the Property Owners Improvement District to comply with a Consent Administrative Order issued Oct. 25, 2014, Benenati said by email.
The consent order resulted from inspections in July and August 2012 that noted several violations of the district’s permit with ADEQ. The facility was to have the system evaluated for any leakage. A report of findings was due to the state by Dec. 10, 2014. ADEQ has yet to receive a report of findings, according to Benenati.
Benenati wrote that ADEQ has not taken any legal action against the Improvement District but is “still weighing its options.”
Zega said the county does not have much authority when it comes to Washington County Property Owners Improvement District.
He said, though, that his research shows state law contains a provision where residents who are part of an improvement district could petition the county judge to remove a district’s board or commission members. Such a petition would have to be approved by the county judge.