Two members of the Little Juniata River Association went before Tyrone Borough Council earlier this week to express concerns about discharges into the river and sewage plant capacity in the future.
The Association’s Bill Anderson expressed concerns about the effluent coming out of the plant as well as concerns regarding algae. He told council he had samples taken of the river and had requested the state’s Department of Environmental Protection to do the same.
Anderson expressed concern about “the overload of biochemical oxygen demand” coming into the plant. He noted the American Eagle Paper Mill has been in violation of its permit.
The mill has a set monthly limit for the amount of BOD it is allowed to discharge under a permit issued by the Borough of Tyrone. A public notice appeared in The Daily Herald in January about industrial user violations involving the mill. The increased BOD coincided with an increase in production at the mill in August of last year.
Administrative fines were imposed on the mill’s operators and the public notice said that the mill is taking preventative measures to correct the violation in accordance with Tyrone Borough’s enforcement response plan. The mill has been installing equipment to help bring them back into compliance.
The mill plans to have 10 bio towers in place to reduce the BOD and have it returned to below the permitted monthly limit. The towers are used to consume the biochemical oxygen demand as the water goes through the tower. The procedure allows the amount of BOD to be reduced when it shows up at the treatment plant. Team Ten, LLC President John Ferner previously told The Herald the efforts are being undertaken at a cost of about $600,000.
Ferner was asked about environmental concerns regarding the biochemical oxygen demand.
“There’s nothing hazardous about it,” said Ferner. “It’s just that the amount increases the cost to treat it to the borough.”
The mill’s permit allows it to discharge 5,700 pounds a day. Ferner said the discharge has been running at 6,500 pounds (as of mid-February). He said when all ten of the bio towers are up and running the BOD should be reduced to 4,000 pounds a day.
At Monday’s meeting, Anderson said he knew the mill was doing something about the BOD issue but he contended, “The river is suffering at the moment – there will be a biological effect.”
Anderson also voiced another concern during the public comment period at the meeting.
“We are very concerned that the capacity at the plant has been overcommitted,” said Anderson.
He cited Tyrone Borough’s decision to sell capacity to the Northern Blair County Regional Sewer Authority in 2004. He noted the capacity would help facilitate growth and development in the watershed area.
Anderson claimed, “This will affect and intensify every storm we get here in Tyrone.”
Anderson said if Tyrone continues to “facilitate the development in the Pinecroft area of the Little Juniata”, the next flood would create water a foot higher in the downtown area than the one that hit the town in September of 2004.
Nulton and the Borough’s consulting engineer responded to Anderson’s concerns and those expressed by Association member Gary Miller.
Nulton said he had met with DEP at the plant earlier on Monday and detailed some of the issues the plant has had. Myers detailed the plant’s capacity capabilities.
Nulton told The Daily Herald on Thursday of this week that the plant had encountered problems with bacteria and sludge was not settling properly. Nulton explained the problem involves filamentous or “hairlike bacteria.”
He said the bacteria can be seen through a microscope and chlorine is used at the plant to deal with it. He noted the chlorine does not go into the river. He said the bacteria causes the effluent being discharged to have a cloudy appearance.
Nulton said the discharge is still within permit limits.
“It takes a good week to turn it around and it’s starting to look better,” said Nulton.
A press spokesperson for the DEP, John Repetz, confirmed the agency’s visit to the plant earlier this week.
Repetz said, “The (bacteria) problem was discovered middle or late last week. The Fish and Boat Commission took some samples over the weekend. (A DEP official) went out on Monday and took some additional samples.”
Repetz said when he talked to a DEP official from the Altoona District office earlier this week the results of the tests were not yet known.
“From what he told me, apparently it looked like (from) the samples the Fish and Boat Commission took, things were well within the permitted limits,” said Repetz.
Repetz said the local DEP official told him the bacteria problem was under control and it was getting better.
“It’s just a matter of time before the cloudiness clears up,” said Repetz.
Nulton also addressed concerns regarding algae and noted the river is full of algae around the area of the Ninth Street walk bridge.
“It’s everywhere (around the bridge), there’s nothing like that at the plant.”
He said one reason things may be more noticeable is “the river flow is so low.”
Nulton pointed out the issues are “not a surprise to DEP and the state’s fish commission.” He said Tyrone is scheduled to have an expert who deals with domestic wastewater treatment and pulp paper come to the plant. He said he is hopeful the expert can advise him on how to do certain things differently.
In regard to capacity sold to Northern Blair, Nulton said it has been figured into the plant’s calculations. He said when there are expansions or growth such as the proposed Wal-Mart in Antis Township; the Borough has to sign off on the project stating it has the capacity to handle it. He reiterated comments made by Myers at the meeting by stating that flow from Wal-Marts are generally low.
He also said decisions about growth are made at other levels such as by the county, other townships, etc. He explained the waste plant deals with treating what comes in as long as it is within permitted levels or a permitted substance.
Nulton said the plant is authorized for 16,000 pounds of BOD per day and currently is taking in about 12,000 pounds. He said the plant has a capacity of 13 million gallons a day and currently treats about seven million gallons a day.
In a brief follow-up interview yesterday regarding the paper mill’s efforts to reduce the BOD, Nulton said he had been told eight bio towers were in place and up and running. He said the mill had remained out of compliance in January while the status for February was still unknown. The paper mill’s Ferner was out of town on Friday and unavailable for additional comment.
“In my 28 years, there are very few times that DEP has been here,” said Nulton. “These things happen because we have an industry in town.”
Nulton said he would welcome a visit by Mr. Anderson to the plant.
