I would like to respond to the person who commented to the
Citizens Voice column and address the following as quoted:
”
Please help! Why is the city going to waste $26 million on a
sewer treatment plant? Hollister only needs the new plant if we are
to grow in the future.
”
For many years, the City of Hollister grew too fast and
overloaded its sewer treatment plant. Fortunately, the people that
allowed this to happen are gone. The Regional Water Quality Control
Board is an agency of state government that supervises impacts on
creeks, rivers and other bodies of water. This agency issued
several citations to the city due to operational failures and poor
sanitary practices before the catastrophic 15 million gallon
treated sewage spill in May 2002. The RWQCB issued a $1.2 million
fine and established wastewater standards that the city must meet,
in increments, by 2005.
I would like to respond to the person who commented to the Citizens Voice column and address the following as quoted: “Please help! Why is the city going to waste $26 million on a sewer treatment plant? Hollister only needs the new plant if we are to grow in the future.”
For many years, the City of Hollister grew too fast and overloaded its sewer treatment plant. Fortunately, the people that allowed this to happen are gone. The Regional Water Quality Control Board is an agency of state government that supervises impacts on creeks, rivers and other bodies of water. This agency issued several citations to the city due to operational failures and poor sanitary practices before the catastrophic 15 million gallon treated sewage spill in May 2002. The RWQCB issued a $1.2 million fine and established wastewater standards that the city must meet, in increments, by 2005.
You are mistaken when you comment about future growth. The $26 million is the investment required to bring the plant up to treat sewage at current capacity, not to accommodate future growth. This was mandated by the RWQCB.
When the new plant is online, the city will need to apply to the RWQCB again in order to invest in additional treatment plant capacity for future growth.
I encourage you to speak with your elected city council representative and/or the City Manager. I have been following this issue for years, and I am confident that the city finally has the right people employed to move forward in the correct direction.
Mike Smith
Hollister
