By Ann Crosby / Argus Observer / August 9, 2000
Oregon Department of Environmental Quality issued a $4,121 civil penalty to Snake River Correctional Institution for violating Oregon environmental law by illegally discharging raw sewage into a waterway over an approximate 17-month period.
The DEQ said illegal discharge of sewage started Nov. 5, 1998, when the prison's sanitary sewer line was erroneously connected to its storm water drainage system. The illegal discharge continued until prison building and grounds staff discovered the problem this spring.
The contractor connection error occurred during the final days of the prison's $179 million Phase II construction program, a buildout project to expand the facility from its original 648-bed capacity to its current, 3,000-inmate, multiple-security status as Oregon's largest prison.
The prison's sewer system equals to that of a small town, because it serves a population of 4,000-plus. Besides the inmate population which fluctuates at or near capacity, more than 1,000 corrections employees and contracted services providers work on the prison grounds and in its buildings on a daily basis.
Improper connection, according to a letter DEQ Director Langdon Marsh sent to SRCI Superintendent Robert Lampert, led to SRCI discharging between 140,000 and 190,000 gallons of raw sewage into the storm water system over nearly 1 1/2 years.
The incorrect connection was found in March when prison staff performing routine maintenance tasks noticed dampness in an area of the drainage system which should have been dry. As soon as the abnormality was discovered, maintenance crews undertook investigative procedures and reported the problem to prison officials.
Lampert said dye was injected into sewer lines to enable personnel responsible for physical plant operations and maintenance to track the sewage flow and locate the source of the problem.
SRCI reported the problem to municipal officials, a requirement because Ontario holds the DEQ permit to discharge effluent from the municipal wastewater treatment facility as well as storm water into the Snake River.
While SRCI was cleaning sewage sludge from the illegal discharge, the sewer line which crossed a storm water ditch was damaged, allowing storm water to flow into the sewer system. During heavy April rainfall, storm water infiltration overwhelmed the sewer system, causing between 400 and 600 gallons of raw sewage to be discharged from a manhole before it flowed into a dry irrigation drainage ditch which connects to natural surface water.
"By discharging the sewage to this ditch, SRCI placed waste where it was likely to be carried to the waters of the state," Marsh's letter said. "Discharging wastes to waters of the state and placing wastes where they are likely to be carried to waters of the state are serious violations of Oregon law. The health and welfare of individuals and the quality of Oregon's environment all depend on clean water," the letter to Lampert continued.
Additionally, March explained, raw sewage creates nuisance conditions such as malodor, and it carries microorganisms capable of causing human diseases. Raw sewage also consumes dissolved oxygen in water and adds excessive nutrients to it, challenging the survival of wildlife, including endangered species.
The owner of the sewage facilities creating the illegal discharge in SRCI's case, the Oregon Department of Corrections is liable for the civil penalty assessment, according to Les Carlough, an enforcement manager at DEQ's Portland offices.
Although SRCI could have appealed the penalty within 20 days of its June 20 issuance, Lampert said it did not. He did not know whether ODOC would attempt to recover its penalty expense from the contractor, action likely to involve the Oregon Department of Justice and a decision that would have to be made by the department's state administrative corps and its facilities division.
Besides informing SRCI of its illegal discharge penalty, the DEQ director's letter reminded local prison officials of provisions in SRCI's
wastewater system action plan dated Nov. 1, 1999. The plan called for completion of "certain grease management improvements" by May 15. Lampert said the improvements are under way but not completed.Installation of additional grease traps' was identified months ago as one
of the steps the prison needed to take internally to alter the quality of wastewater entering the prison's sewerage which transports wastewater several miles from the prison, located about five miles northwest of Ontario, to the city's treatment facility at the northwest edge of Ontario. DEQ and municipal engineering staff working with SRCI officials to solve the prison's sewage transmission problems agreed the "FOG" factor excessive fat, oil and grease in the wastewater was a condition the prison needed to solve.If FOG is not diminished at the point of wastewater outflow, its
components solidify and collect inside sewer pipes, restricting the flow and raising the potential for overflows also called sewage spills at the headworks or at manholes where the sewer line is vented.At the same time the prison is pursuing internal solutions to its
problems, Ontario officials are progressing on a project to redesign and rebuild the sewer pipeline which has been trouble-ridden its entire existence.In addition to ODOC paying the city $1.25 million to cover the cost of the
proposed rebuilding project, an intergovernmental agreement reached earlier this year between the city and ODOC conveys ownership of the sewage transmission line to the city, with the city taking responsibility for its maintenance and operation from the headworks to the wastewater treatment plant.Sandy Hagenmann, administrative supervisor of the city's public works
department, said the city's project is progressing.A change in public works leadership Michael Faught replaced Carl Malone as
city engineer and head of the department did not retard project progress, Hagenmann said Tuesday. The city council had already agreed to hire the consultants before Malone exited the post.The city, she said, is completing negotiations on its professional
services contracts with the two firms.Don Brown, Ontario's water and sewer utilities and facilities
superintendent who gets involved whenever the prison's sewer line has a problem, said he is hoping for an October start on the rebuilding project.Three alternative routes have been proposed for the new sewer line, Brown
said, pointing out one option would require right of way acquisition, a process that could delay the construction start.Brown and Hagenmann estimated 90 to 120 days would be required for the
pipeline installation after a construction contract is awarded.Winter weather, Brown said, is unlikely to interrupt progress on the
project which would take a course that avoids roads.The new pipeline will have gravity flow from the prison to the city's
treatment plant. The lack of gravity flow was identified earlier this year as the biggest contributor to persistent odor problems along the pipeline as well being a major factor in manhole and headworks spills.