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June 21, 2005
'Structural failure' is investigatedByRecord-Eagle staff writer Septage woes Grand Traverse County’s plans for a septic waste treatment facility slogged through several planning and op-erational problems in recent months: - June 18, 2005: Part of a ceiling and wall collapse at the county’s $7.8 million septage treatment facility, spilling 20,000 gallons of partially-treated waste across the Ahlberg Road site. READ THE STORY... - May 2005: A "Get Pumped" promotional logo for the new plant, which cost $5,000, is scuttled by federal trademark officials because several other companies are already using the slogan. READ THE STORY... - July 2004: County buys 3.9 acres off LaFranier Road from the County Road Commission for $400,000 for a new development site. READ THE STORY... - April 2004: Property owners in the Hammond Industrial Center sue the county over the plant’s proposed location, fearing traffic and odors from the site. READ THE STORY... - January 2004: County awards $7.8 million design-build contract for the septage plant to Gourdie-Fraser engi-neering of Traverse City and Christman Co. of Lansing. Two other engineering firms submit proposals for at least $1 million less and question whether the selected facility will work as designed. READ THE STORY... County officials had few answers Monday for what they termed a "structural failure" when part of a ceiling and outside wall surrounding a concrete storage tank caved in Saturday morning at the facility along Ahlberg Road in Garfield Township. The collapse spewed a 20,000-gallon wave of partially treated septic tank waste across the property into a pair of stormwater drainage lagoons. "Why it happened, I don't know," Chris Buday, Department of Public Works director, said Monday. "I think within a day or two we'll have better data as to what happened and what the extent of the damage is." On Monday, yellow police tape surrounded the vacant plant to keep onlookers away. Remnants of the collapsed wall spread across the ground, and steel rods jutted from still-standing wall sections. White lime blanketed the bottom of the stormwater ponds after they were pumped out Saturday. The county's water and sewer committee is scheduled to meet in a special session today to get a status report on the damage. Committee member Rob Manigold said he expects the county to hire an independent engineer to determine the cause of the collapse and inspect the structural integrity of the rest of the plant. "If one building falls down, I'm sure they're going to want to go through all the buildings," Manigold said. The county had a design-build contract for the plant with Gourdie-Fraser engineering firm and with Christman Co. construction. Officials with Gourdie-Fraser also offered no explanation Monday on why the structure collapsed. "Quite honestly, there are no answers at this point," company head Robert Forsman said Monday. Buday said it's unclear who will have to pay for the damage and repairs. But he was adamant that the bill won't be paid from public coffers or user fees at the plant. "The county's going to be looking to (the contractors) to fix it - and foot the bill for it," said Buday, who was called home Saturday from National Guard duty in Indiana to deal with the problem. "I expect this situation will be fully covered by insurance." Waste haulers are required by county ordinance to take all septic waste generated in Grand Traverse County to the new treatment plant. Those rules will be suspended for now, Manigold said. "Hopefully, they all have a certified location they can go to get rid of (pumped waste) until we can get something in place," Manigold said. Some haulers said they kept their area sites where they can legally spread septic waste because they anticipated some glitches in the county's operation. "I never said, 'OK, I'm going to give up my spots' because you never know when something's going to happen," said Kathy Belanger of Belanger Septic Service in East Bay Township. "I didn't completely trust the county." The plant has operated since mid-May and had already treated close to 460,000 gallons of septic tank waste, Buday said. The concrete storage tank that gave way had stored up to 60,000 gallons at one time - about three times the volume it contained when the collapse occurred. One worker said the effluent was about "75 percent" treated at the time. A plant worker discovered the collapse and spill about 7 a.m. Saturday. Officials said partial use of the plant may be possible while the building is repaired. It may be able to partially "screen" the septic tank waste and take the remaining material to the regional sewer plant for treatment, Manigold said. See Related Story: Burst tank rocks GT County's new septage plant - June 19, 2005
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Record-Eagle/Douglas Tesner
