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July 26, 2005Taxpayers won't foot bill for septage plant repairsStill no answer on reason for collapseByRecord-Eagle staff writer TRAVERSE CITY - Officials still won't say what caused a collapse at the Grand Traverse County septage treatment plant, but they are taking steps to ensure taxpayers don't have to pay to fix the problem. Jim Minster of Gourdie-Fraser Associates and Scott Jones of Christman Co. - the firms that designed and built the plant - told the county's board of public works Monday that they didn't have any new answers. "No conclusive reports have been issued to date," Jones said. Several insurance companies, their attorneys and consulting engineers are still working to determine the ultimate cause of the June 18 collapse of one of the plant's tanks. The incident spewed about 150,000 gallons of partially treated septage tank waste across the county site off Ahlberg Road near the county road garage. Jones said the company's follow-up investigation has not recovered some steel reinforcement work that was supposed to be at the top of the walls - one of the details that's under review. He said the portion of the plant that collapsed won't be rebuilt until they know for sure what went wrong. "That will be the last piece we reconstruct," he said. Jones and Minster said reconstruction - estimated to take six months and $2.1 million - would be done at no cost to county taxpayers. County attorney Michael Houlihan told the board to amend its contract with Gourdie-Fraser/Christman to reflect that pledge. He said the county has already received a $250,000 insurance payment that will go toward reconstruction costs, but that's where the county's financial obligation ends. "We need to get that firmed up for everybody's interests," he said. "We want the public to be able to have confidence in the integrity of these structures." See Related Stories: Officials looked for 'spin' in septage plant collapse - July 23, 2005 Septage spill situation becoming muddled, attorney says - July 23, 2005 Septage plant repairs tagged at $2 million - July 19, 2005 Health risk from septage plant failure said minimal - July 19, 2005 Well owners near GT County's septage plant fear contamination - June 25, 2005 GT County's septage treatment plant may reopen - June 22, 2005 Septage plant 'structural failure' is investigated - June 21, 2005 Burst tank rocks GT County's new septage plant - June 19, 2005
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