Published: December 14, 2008 11:52 pm      

Sewer system repair money may be getting wasted

Improvements fall short of estimates on overflows

CUMBERLAND — The Georges Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant is in the midst of $28 million in upgrades and improvements.

That’s just one of several multimillion dollar projects for which the county is under a state consent order to eliminate sewage overflow. Paul Kahl said the money spent might not be doing any good.

Kahl, deputy director of the Allegany County Department of Public Works, said during the county’s annual meeting with the District 1 legislative delegation “there have been improvements, hardly at all” with completed projects in the county.

County Attorney Bill Rudd said the consent orders were carefully negotiated and terms agreed upon. But that was before repair work, projected to all but eliminate the problems, slowed the overflows only by a small fraction.

“We did everything we possibly could,” Kahl said. “If we knew then what we know now, we would have fought more” against the consent orders.

Kahl said Allegany County isn’t facing this problem alone. Jurisdictions across the country are spending millions of dollars in repairing an aging infrastructure. County officials asked the delegation Thursday for help in obtaining permission to complete repairs for a portion of each of the Bedford Road and Jennings Run/Wills Creek districts. Upon completion, the project could be evaluated and approaches refined in manageable amounts before spending larger amounts of money.

The county has requested a meeting with Maryland Department of the Environment representatives to discuss the concept and to receive guidance in obtaining solutions to eliminate sewage overflows, Kahl said.

Costs to eliminate sewage overflows in each of the two districts are estimated to be over $30 million apiece. Kahl said the public side of the transmission lines doesn’t appear to be the source of much of the problem.

“The private side is causing everybody fits,” Kahl said. “We can’t go on someone’s property. We estimate 50 (percent) to 70 percent (of the problem) is on the private side.”

“We still have overflows,” Kahl said. “We’re getting fines for this.”

Delegate Kevin Kelly said the delegation could send follow-up letters to MDE in support of the plan.

Kahl offered further evidence of why it is necessary, noting that $1 million in repairs reduced sewage overflow by only 30 percent. Still, he said MDE’s response has been insisting on eliminating overflows.

“I don’t think there’s a resident in Allegany County not impacted by how we address this,” said Kahl, hinting at possible sewer rate increases depending on the level of funding burden placed on the county’s shoulders.

Rudd said the fines “are astronomical” and a bill to be introduced that will allow any citizens group to file suit against a local government is gaining traction in Annapolis.

Despite the county’s best efforts, it could be further burdened by those lawsuits, he said, filed by “militant environmental groups.”

Sen. George Edwards said the delegation was there to listen and consider the county’s requests for assistance. Members will deliberate the separate issues at a later date and either request more information or state their positions on the issues.

Contact Kevin Spradlin at kspradlin@times-news.com.