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May 31, 2001
By Jim Mimiaga A cease-and-desist order against Lakeside Mobile Home Park for its ailing sewage facility was re-issued at a county review hearing Wednesday because of continued noncompliance with state standards. To solve the problems and to comply with state health laws, Lakeside manager Drew Cleland said, he wants to connect with the Cortez Sanitation District’s system once its new plant comes on line, expected by 2004. In the meantime, Lakeside officials plan to deal with over-capacity problems by diverting a portion of the treated wastewater over the ground to be absorbed, rather than discharged down McElmo Creek. Cleland, along with investors, met with county attorney Bob Slough and state and county health inspectors to determine compliance with the cease-and-desist order and to hear future plans. Greg Brand, district engineer with the Colorado Department of Health and Environment, testified that Lakeside’s discharge-permit application, filed by investor group DMLT, LLC, was incomplete, prompting the cease-and-desist order to continue. Obtaining a discharge permit was a requirement of the order. Sensitive to the families that occupy 66 homes at the park, county officials decided no evictions will occur, although evictions could be required under the cease-and-desist order. However, according to the order, no more units can be placed in the park, and as people move, their slots cannot be filled by new tenants. The limits will reduce pressure on the overworked sewage-treatment system. "There has been a lot of delaying on this, and we will keep up with the (cease-and-desist order) until a permit from the state is obtained," Slough said. Lakeside’s waste-treatment facility has been plagued by backed-up lines, broken-down aerators, and problems that have in the past left standing pools of untreated waste. Treated waste continues to flow into a tributary of nearby McElmo Creek, but the discharge has not been granted a permit as required by the state. "More waste is going into the system than can be evaporated out," Brand said. "There can only be so much in the ponds before there is overflow. The input needs to be lowered." During high flows, or heavy rain, holding ponds at the plant threaten to break or leak, health officials said. The problems are the result of having too many homes connected to the system, Brand said. The situation has caused health hazards such as overflowing ponds, clogged pipes, sewage backflows, overworked pumps, failed aerators, and submerged dividing berms, he said. Mike Bauer, president of the Montezuma Water Company, which provides water for Lakeside, testified that the amount metered to Lakeside fluctuates wildly. He said the amounts average 507,000 gallons per month, but one month it was 184,000 gallons and another one-month period showed 1 million gallons used. Bauer speculated that leakage is the reason. Improvements to the system have been made, Cleland said, including regular check-ups, repairs to breaks and pumps, cleared lines and the installation of a safety fence around the plant. While Brand testified that DMLT submitted the majority of the information required in the cease-and-desist order, he said key components were left out. How a new facility would be financed and who would operate and maintain it long-term still need to be determined. Cleland has been maintaining the current system, but he is not certified to do so, as required by by the state health department. Brand said that a local contractor licensed to operate the facility has indicated a willingness to take on the job. But despite a plan submitted with the permit application to upgrade the plant, managers and investors of Lakeside now say they do not want to spend so much money, preferring instead to hold out for access to the Cortez Sanitation District’s system. "Our goal it to connect as soon as possible, because it alleviates construction of a new plant, frees up land, is less expensive in the long run and allows us to get out of the sewer business," Cleland said. In March, a design firm retained by DMLT, Rick Johnson Engineering, submitted a $600,000 proosed plan to install a mechanical package plant that would alleviate sewer problems. But Cleland said he is now seeking an interim plan that would direct treated sewage from 15 homes over the ground to reduce pressure on the system. Cleland said that building a new system would be cost-prohibitive. He and investors prefer to wait to connect with the Cortez system in 2003 or 2004. The interim plan, if approved by the state, would buy them that time. In the meantime, DMLT plans to apply for a Land Application of Domestic Waste Water permit from the state health department regulating treatment systems. A design plan detailing how the wastewater would be delivered over land will be submitted at a hearing June 27 at 8:30 a.m. in the county courthouse. Once the interim plan is in place and discharge is reduced, managers will be better able to address the operator and financing issues not in the permit application, Cleland said. Slough advised that Lakeside focus on sewage-treatment and permit problems as they exist rather than "seek another permit to dump it out on the ground. The county cannot risk adding to the problem." He said if the goal of Lakeside is to eventually connect with the Cortez sewer system, then there should be a state order that it be done as a condition of the permit. But Brand said the health department cannot force the sanitation district to accept Lakeside. Cortez Sanitation District manager Bill Smith testified that there is not room for Lakeside in the current system but there may be once the new plant goes on-line. Smith said that a line and lift station would need to be installed by Lakeside to connect to the nearest district line located off Empire Street, about a half-mile from Lakeside. Lakeside officials were agreeable to the conditions of the cease-and-desist order. |
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