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February 27, 2010

FLASHPOINT: Many positive things planned for future development along Wabash River

A recent letter to the editor in the Tribune-Star discussed some issues regarding future development along the Wabash River in the City of Terre Haute. Many positive things have already occurred on both sides of the river and many more are planned for the future. It is extremely important that the entire community work together to solve various problems and to implement solutions that will positively enhance our riverfront. The following are some very important points to consider as we move forward:

The efforts of the Wabash River Development & Beautification Committee have been very successful and have directly resulted in the development of a new community asset on the west side of the river. There are also things beginning to happen on the east side. All of these activities are a great example of how public and private groups can work together to accomplish goals that make this a better place to live and work. The City of Terre Haute applauds all of these efforts to transform our community’s riverfront.

In support of this continuing riverfront planning process, the City of Terre Haute provided one-half ($50,000) of the funding needed to hire a consultant in 2008 to perform a study and to develop a master plan. The result is a “first step” planning document that provides numerous ideas and concepts to be considered all along the riverfront. None of the components of the plan are “set in stone” but we are all hopeful that many of these ideas will turn into specific projects that will drive positive riverfront development.

The City of Terre Haute (like most communities all across the country) is under an unfunded federal mandate to address our Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) problem. We have a combined sewer/storm water system in Terre Haute which means that the system carries both sewage and storm water to the treatment plant for processing. Throughout the year we experience numerous weather events that produce significant rainfall and our sewer system cannot handle the increased load. When this occurs (average is about 25 times per year) the system discharges the overflow directly into the river. These sewer system overflows are comprised of 95 percent storm water and 5 percent sewage. The total estimated annual volume of our CSO discharges is about 300 million gallons per year.

For the past 10 years the City has been working on a CSO compliance plan. The primary solution to address this problem consists of creating the infrastructure to temporarily store the overflow versus discharging it into the river. The potential options include tunnels, in-line sewer storage, underground tanks, and lagoons/ponds/basins. Numerous alternatives have been considered and evaluated over the years and we are now getting close to submitting a final plan that will include a combination of the above options. We are under an “State Judicial Agreement” to complete our plan by September 2010 and we have been working with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) every step of the way. They believe that we are on the right track to achieve compliance. CSO solution planning activities have been conducted in twice monthly public meetings of the Sanitary Board of Commissioners and also through several CSO Community Action Committee meetings.

As part of riverfront development planning, it is extremely important to keep in mind that a significant amount of the City’s existing sewer system components exist within the riverfront planning corridor. The main interceptor sewer runs along the river from Spruce Street all the way to I-70, there are 10 CSO outfalls that discharge directly into the river at various points along the bank, and the city’s largest sewage lift station is located next to the river at I-70. It is a fact that the majority of future sewer/CSO improvements will occur in and along the riverfront area.

A new opportunity to help address the CSO problem came into the planning process this past summer. The City has had several discussions with International Paper regarding the future use of an existing lagoon system they have used to treat their waste water for the past 35 years. After significant discussion with IDEM, City Engineering, Waste Water, and our CSO consultant, we all agreed that we should continue formally investigating this possible CSO solution option.

The potential CSO “Lagoon” Project can best be described as one part of the overall CSO storage solution. It would be used to capture the CSO output that currently goes directly into the river and temporarily store it in a holding pond. The CSO output would pass through a clarifier that will remove any solid materials such as leaves, sticks, waste, etc. Once the storm has passed and the sewage plant catches up with processing the flow, the contents of the lagoon will be pumped back to the sewage plant for treatment. The stored overflow will be in the pond about five to seven days after each event and this situation will typically occur eight to 10 times per year.

Some people have called this proposed facility a “sewage lagoon” and that is simply not true. A sewage lagoon is comprised of 100 percent raw sewer discharge directly from a sewer pipe. In these types of sewage lagoons, the waste is treated via a natural process over a long period of time and they will emit odors. Our proposed project is officially called a CSO pond (or basin) and it is used to temporarily hold the CSO overflow. This project is an increasingly common alternative to underground storage and is a much “greener” solution. The CSO ponds will not smell any different than the river would ever smell. This administration simply will not support any city controlled project that would create any new odors in our community.

It has also been suggested that the City of Terre Haute is seeking the “cheapest solution” and not the best solution. The rules and regulations are determined by the EPA and IDEM, not the City of Terre Haute. The plan approval process consists of two simple components: 1. The CSO plan must meet all mandated requirements. 2. It must be affordable to the community. The plan’s affordability is determined by calculating 2 percent (that is the minimum and it could go higher) of the median household income in Terre Haute. That calculated dollar figure then drives the solution options because the final approved plan will be based on the ability of the sewer users to pay for all improvements. It is likely we will be required to spend a minimum of $50 million dollars over the next 20 years to address the CSO problem. The final total will be determined when the plan is approved.

One of the primary goals of this city administration is to eliminate the odor created by the sewage treatment plant. For the past two years we have been planning and evaluating various options and are now moving forward with a specific plan which includes several projects that will eventually eliminate the odor. Over the next 10 years, the City will spend an additional $125 million dollars (above and beyond the CSO solutions) to upgrade the treatment plant. These improvements will put us into compliance with all state and federal requirements and finally get rid of the odor.

The treatment plant upgrades and CSO solutions are obviously very complex and expensive activities. The whole regulatory purpose behind these mandated projects is to clean up the river. The other benefit we gain is a much improved sanitary and storm water infrastructure which will support future growth and development in our city. Please visit the following web-sites: www.terrehaute.in.gov/

mayors-office/current-issues and www.terrehautecleanwater.com for more information. We all have a responsibility to work towards these public goals together via positive dialogue and compromise. If we do, the entire community will benefit from a remarkable transformation of our riverfront that we can all be proud of.



— Duke A Bennett, Mayor

City of Terre Haute

Chuck Ennis, City Engineer

City of Terre Haute

Steve Witt, President

Terre Haute Sanitary District

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