The city is well on its way to meeting a Dec. 31 deadline from
the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board for drafting
a long-term wastewater plan, according to City Manager Clint
Quilter.
Hollister – The city is well on its way to meeting a Dec. 31 deadline from the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board for drafting a long-term wastewater plan, according to City Manager Clint Quilter.
In 2002, after 15 million gallons of treated sewage spilled into the San Benito River, the RWQCB slapped a moratorium on new sewer hook-ups and gave Hollister until Oct. 15 of this year to construct a new sewage treatment plant.
Last month, the city dodged $200,000 in fines when, at the request of Quilter, the RWQCB gave the city more time to solve its sewer problems. The Dec. 31 deadline for drafting a long-term wastewater plan is the first of three revised deadlines.
A draft of a plan to address long-term wastewater treatment and disposal will be complete this week, Quilter said. Officials with the city and the San Benito County Water District will review the draft, make any appropriate changes and have a finalized version by the Dec. 31 deadline, he said.
The RWQCB last month gave Hollister until late 2006 to award a construction contract for a new treatment plant and set a March 2007 deadline for drafting a disposal plan for treated wastewater. Each deadline missed will result in more than $66,000 in fines being levied against the city, according to Quilter.
Quilter has said that, barring any delay during ongoing state-mandated environmental studies of the project, the city will meet all the revised deadlines. Construction on a new sewage treatment plant is slated to begin between June and September of 2006, he said. Plans for a new sewage treatment plant are 90 percent complete, according to Quilter. The major hang-up, however, has been devising a way to dispose of treated wastewater.
Currently, wastewater is percolated into the ground, but once the new plant is built there will be too much water to continue doing that. Quilter said that spray fields – where recycled wastewater will be sprayed over hearty, inedible plants – are the short-term solution to the disposal dilemma. The city is currently working to locate potential spray field sites, he said.
Ultimately, the ideal disposal solution is to use treated wastewater for agriculture. But the city’s mineral-rich water is harmful to plants and will need further treatment to be used for agriculture. Even if the water is demineralized, the city will have to convince farmers that using treated wastewater is safe.
Earlier this month Harry Blohm, project manager for the Governance Committee for the Hollister Urban Area Water and Wastewater Master Plan, told county supervisors that it could take as long as five years before there is a market for treated wastewater for agricultural use.
The Governance Committee was created last year and includes representatives from Hollister, San Benito County and the county water district.
On Wednesday the Governance Committee will hold the first in a series of public workshops. The topic of that workshop will be levels of service for the new treatment plant, such as reliability and how large of an earthquake the plant will be able to withstand.
Many in Hollister are impatient to see the moratorium lifted, because it precludes any new construction requiring sewer hook-ups.
Luke Roney covers local government and the environment for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or at
lr****@fr***********.com
