Lake Holcombe Town Board; Still searching for waste treatment compliance

Jesse Claflin was present Feb. 17, fora special Lake Holcombe Town Board meeting, to talk about what he can do to help the sanitary district get in compliance at the treatment plant. Photo by Ginna Young

By Ginna Young

In order to address some concerns about compliance within the Lake Holcombe Sanitary District, a special Lake Holcombe Town Board meeting was held Feb. 17. The issues are stemming from a regular meeting in January, where a Rural Water representative shared that she was afraid the wastewater treatment methods were not in DNR compliance.

“We’ve come to the point where we know we’re not being in compliance with some things that we’re supposed to be in,” said town board chairman Brian Guthman.

Guthman asked Lake Holcombe Sanitary Board chairman Buck Steele, about what has been done since that time. Based on the recommendations from Kay Curtin, of Rural Water, Steele said they have done quite a bit.

“She said we weren’t out of regulations in anything,” said Steele. “But, she said our processes weren’t right.”

What raised some suspicions, was that Curtin felt the treatment plant operator was not taking proper sampling for testing and accepting the dumping of haulers into the ponds without testing.

Steele says he thinks the entire sanitary district board is the one who should be held accountable, not just him as the chairman. So, in discussing the matter with the sanitary board, Steele said they have changed the dumping system somewhat and that he talked to a design firm to look at setting the dumping system properly.

They’re also purchasing a testing refrigerator and instructed operator Duane Schulze that he had to start sampling every load.

“As far as restricting the amount of truck loads they can haul in there, we don’t really know what our capacity is,” said Steele. “We haven’t got to that point yet.”

Guthman said that is concerning, since they need to know what capacity is, so as not to overload the ponds where the sludge is. He also mentioned that the testing is flawed, as the sampler in the building takes the samples by time, not by flow.

“That’s illegal, it’s supposed to be taken by flow,” said Guthman.

Steele said this is all news to him and pointed out that there are a few other plants in the state, that take hauled waste directly into the pond, instead of running it through the system.

“That’s not illegal,” said Steele.

Guthman said each expert he’s talked to says the waste should be run through a sampler or a flow meter.

“You don’t know what you’re getting or how much you’re getting,” said Guthman.

Steele says that’s why he talked to a design firm. The way the plant system was constructed, there’s a manhole next to the pond, where the trucks are supposed to pull up to and pump into it, but it still goes directly into the pond. Steele would like to revamp the manhole, put a pipe to run in through the building sampler and then out to the pond.

“I kind of felt that was the cheapest way to go,” said Steele. “There’s a lot more changing that has to be done before we can allow that to happen.”

Steele also said that the loads are now documented about where they are coming from and that Schulze is certified, albiet a few credits short, but is working to remedy that.

To help get the system functioning to where it is in compliance, Guthman asked Holcombe resident Jesse Claflin to consider a part-time position with the sanitary district. Claflin previously worked for Durand and Boyceville in the sanitary field, before he was employed at Rural Water for 17 years, troubleshooting wastewater treatment plants to keep them in compliance.

Now, Claflin works for a company that sells equipment and does process control for wastewater systems. Even though he already has a full-time job, Claflin said he’d be happy to help out on a limited basis, where needed, with reports and consultations.

He did, however, hand down some advice before the hiring process began.

“I, personally, at this point, would shut all septic off until it was all figured out,” said Claflin, adding that they need to know how much sludge is in the pond(s). “Septic adds a lot of sludge fast to a pond. The more that’s added, the less space you have for your treatment to work.”

Guthman said if more help is needed than Claflin can give, they may have to piecemeal the position. Until then, the direction Guthman wanted to go, was to suspend all hauler loads until they get things figured out, which the other board members concurred with.

Steele said stopping the haulers will not change anything on the sampler, since it doesn’t go through the system. Guthman said that is the problem, since they are still not getting a clear reading on the sampler, especially since it could test at off-hours.

“That is why it throws the numbers off,” said Guthman.

Steele says they are taking random samples out of manholes at times, so more is being done than just the norm.

“That’s good, but we still need to get in compliance,” said Guthman, who thinks haulers are probably taking in more than the users on the system, causing higher levels and that expensive fines could be in store. “I’d rather be proactive, than reactive.”

Doug Olson, town board supervisor, wondered about their authority over the townappointed sanitary board, stating that he thought the town board’s wishes should be recommendations, instead of edicts. Then, if those recommendations are not followed, they could look at taking a firmer stand on the situation.

“I don’t think it’s this board’s position to say, you have to do this or you have to do that,” said Olson.

“We have a pretty complex problem here,” agreed town board supervisor David Staudacher.

Guthman said he is just trying to save the town money, before it’s too late, while Staudacher suggested they give the sanitary board some time to do what they need to do to get in compliance.

Steele said although Schulze is a fantastic, proactive employee, he liked the possibility of hiring Claflin as a consultant to get them back on track.

“I think that is an absolute awesome idea,” said Steele.

Steele did agree that if the town board wanted the hauling suspended, he would call the haulers immediately, who use Holcombe’s system. As for the other recommendations, he promised to take that information to the rest of the sanitary board and have a meeting as soon as they can get it together. They’ll also look at hiring Claflin as a consultant.

“I think we need to work with the tools we have right now and do the best that we can,” said Staudacher to Guthman, “and work toward that ending that you’re looking for.”