Work starts on St. Ignatius sewer system

Karn Petersen

Leader Staff

ST. IGNATIUS — St. Ignatius is moving forward with a new sewer system that should help the city cope with current demands and future growth, as well as bring the city into compliance with existing environmental regulations.

The current sewer system has been out of compliance with EPA standards for the past 10 years — it was built back in the 1950s — but the new system will help the city get up to code.

"We've been out of compliance on six counts, and the EPA started really putting the pressure on the city to do something," mayor Charley Gariepy said. "The discharge end isn't treating like it should. Also, the sewer system we have now flows through wetlands to help treat it. The tribe said, 'No more discharge into the wetlands' and we have to respect their wishes for water quality."

Construction on the new sewer system began several weeks ago by Phillips Construction. Phillips had the lowest bid for the project coming in at $3,694,475.

Rural development grants are helping to offset the cost of the system, and residential users will see an increase of only three dollars for the system, Gariepy said. The school district and businesses will see a slightly larger increase that will be calculated by water usage.

With the new system, the city's EPA compliance problems should be solved before next winter, Gariepy said.

"The new system should be finished in late October," he said.

It took a lot of planning to find a treatment plan that would be cost effective, and Gariepy also noted that the system has a productive cycle.

"With the new system, after the waste is treated it goes into a pipeline that goes into a holding pond and then to a pivot irrigation system," he said. "The water is treated again before it goes into the pivot. The way the system is set up, the water will be so clean that you could drink it."

The sewer lagoons will be behind Doug Allard's Trading Post on highway 93, next to the current lagoons.

"We did a land swap with Allard to get the property where the new lagoons will be. We traded some land out by the airport that the city owned for the property behind Allard's. It was a money saving measure for the people of the town, so that we didn't have to purchase more land that the people would have to pay for," he said.

From the lagoons behind Allard's, the treated material will be sent through the pipeline to a holding cell by Old Freight Road.

"A pipeline will take the treated waste down Sabine on city property that we purchased from the Krantzes and into a holding cell. The treated water will then be put out by a pivot, which the city had to buy. Dennis Krantz is leasing the ground that the pivot is on, and haying where that pivot is," Gariepy said.

It took 10 years for the city to get to the groundbreaking stage of the project.

"It's taken years to get his far. A lot of it was the engineering aspect. The first set of plans we had, 10 years ago, the tribe wouldn't accept. So, back to the drawing board. Those on the city council at that time switched engineers and had to go back through the planning process again. But it was all finally figured out. It's been a long haul," Gariepy said.

Gariepy said although the new system will help the city handle future growth, it was installed to benefit current residents.

"We aren't building the system to expand the town — we are building this for the people that are here now," he said.