Vale lagoon project could be wrapped up next year
Monday, October 30, 2006 9:50 AM PST
Jennifer Colton | Argus Observer
Vale
After two years of planning, debate and cleaning, the Vale sewer lagoon project could be completed by October 2007.
“We're actually hoping to be able to run our pivot system by the end of next week to do some water pumping to find out how well it's going to work,” Vale City Manager Brent Barton said Thursday.
The project, designed to help the city comply with federal waste management regulations, will refurbish the existing unlined wastewater lagoon built in the 1950s. That process will include rebuilding the cell, removing cattails and biosolids, installing rock liner and increasing the dike sides to increase lagoon size.
The $4.5 million project is funded by loans and a community development block grant from the Oregon Economic and Community Development Department and U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development. The city also has some funds built into the project, Barton said. The next steps of the project were discussed during a recent wastewater treatment monthly construction meeting, attended by the project engineer and contractor, local and community representatives, city of Vale staff, representatives from the Department of Environmental Quality and a representative from the grant administration. The meetings are also open to the public, but Barton said few attend.
“Usually people aren't too excited about that type of meeting,” Barton said.
City officials are looking for property owners with 400 acres of land willing to help the city with the distribution of biosolids, Barton said. The land would have to be tested for compatibility and nitrates, and the land must not be used in any crop grown for human consumption, he said.
The lagoon is currently in a drying process.
“We want to try and do that (the drying process) over the winter so we can pull all those biosolids out and rejuvenate the cell in the spring,” Barton said.
A work and planning session is scheduled for Dec. 19 before the Vale City Council meeting, where the results of the session will be presented, Barton said.
“I'm just really excited about how much they got done this spring and summer,” he said. “We're looking at having it completed in October or November of 2007, depending on getting a timely start this spring.”
