Frederick Sound outfall line plans from 1974, including a graphic of the diffuser. The diffuser fell off sometime in the last 25 years.
Part of a wastewater line in Frederick Sound has broken, and the Petersburg Borough must repair it to comply with an upcoming Environmental Protection Agency permit.
The pipe, known as the outfall line, discharges wastewater from Petersburg's treatment plant into Frederick Sound.
Wastewater Operations Supervisor Justin Haley said that a part of the pipe called the diffuser has fallen off. The diffuser distributes the wastewater at different places in the water, where ocean currents dilute it further in a "mixing zone."
Right now, wastewater is not being diffused.
"We basically have an open pipe that's just discharging at one point into Frederick Sound, instead of multiple locations at multiple depths," Haley said.
The diffuser may have been broken for a long time. Haley said it could have fallen off any time in the last 25 years - the last time the pipe was checked was in the '90s, when the diffuser was still on.
He said they sent a diver earlier this year to check the line, which is when they discovered the diffuser had fallen off.
"The diver seemed to think that it had been sitting in its current location for a long time," Haley said.
Public Works Director Aaron Marohl said there wasn't a reason to check the pipe since that last dive because the water was testing below contamination requirements and meeting the permit's standards.
Starting in November, Petersburg's wastewater facilities will be under a stricter EPA permit with more treatment requirements, which means the borough will need to repair the line to be compliant.
Right now, Public Works doesn't know how much it will cost to repair the outfall line or how long it will take. The borough is working with the EPA to make sure there won't be any fines as they work to repair it.
Marohl said fixing the line will be an additional expense on top of the other necessary wastewater upgrades. Last fall, Petersburg voters approved a $20 million bond, partly to fund a new wastewater disinfection system.
Petersburg's sewer rates also increased this year to help pay for new wastewater testing requirements.
Reader Comments(0)