The cleanup of mercury contamination at the waste water facility will cost Oconto Falls residents over a million dollars.
Crews working on the renovation and expansion of the facility in 2013 discovered mercury in the trickling filters, which remove organic material from waste water.
The Oconto Falls City Council on July 8 authorized the issuance and sale of $1.6 million in bonds to cover a 20-year loan from the Department of Natural Resources Clean Water Fund Program. The bonds bear an interest rate of 2.625 percent.
The loan offsets the mercury decontamination process and the purchase of a computerized SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system for the treatment plant.
No grant money was available from the Environmental Protection Agency or DNR, according to Chuck Grady, manger of Oconto Falls Municipal Utilities.
“It’s unfortunate, but it’s something out of our control,” he said.
North Shore Environmental, of Germantown, was hired to perform the emergency cleanup.
Grady said no one working at the plant before or after the discovery of mercury was harmed by exposure to the toxic metal. City residents whose waste is treated at the facility were also not in danger, he added.
The discovery of mercury was totally unexpected, and construction crews immediately evacuated the site once it was found, Grady said.
Mercury was used in the construction process of the treatment facility in the 1960s and 1970s, he said.
It took about four months to successfully remove the contaminant, from January to April 2013. According to Grady, no further monitoring or cleanup is necessary.
The $8.2 million upgrade and expansion began at the plant in November 2012 and was completed in fall 2013. The renovation is projected to add at least another 20 years of life to the plant at 290 S. Maple St.
Sewer rates increased in July for both a fixed fee and volume charge. The fixed fee is based on the size of a customer’s water meter, while the volume charge is based on the amount of water a customer uses. Fixed fees increased by $2 a month for over 1,000 utility customers who have 3/4-inch water meters, from $32.80 to $34.80.
Customers with larger water meters will pay higher rates. For example, 54 customers with 1-inch meters will pay $87 per month, up from $82; 36 customers with 1 1/2-inch meters will pay $174, up from $164; and five customers with 4-inch meters will pay $870, up from $820 per month.
The volume charge increased from $5.52 per 1,000 gallons to $6.19 per 1,000 gallons for all customers.
Lisa Christensen, executive administrative assistant with Oconto Falls Municipal Utilities, said based on her own bill, the volume increase equals just over $1 a month for a two-person household. She did not have estimates available for customers with larger families or for local businesses.
Categories
