The Smoking Gun

Jenny Sanders
City of Clayton Sewer Leaks

Last year, we began a campaign to increase public awareness of the rampant pollution affecting Stekoa Creek that included an article entitled “Stekoa Creek Water Monitoring Project,” which appeared in the fall 2005 issue of the Chattooga Quarterly. Since that article was printed, we have noticed increased concern amongst the community as well as our membership about the plight of Stekoa Creek. Given that so many of our members have now become more interested in this battle, I would like to take this opportunity to provide you with an update on the progress of the Stekoa Creek Water Monitoring Project.

Last summer, it was brought to our attention that a smoke test had been completed in 2004 on the sewer lines in Clayton. City officials hired an engineering firm named Woolpert LLP to complete this test for two reasons. The first objective of this test was to develop an updated map of the sewer lines. Before this test was completed, the only map that the city manager had available was an old map from 1976 with inaccurate and outdated information. The second purpose of this test was to assess the problems in the lines and to locate leaks, blockages, and areas where storm water infiltration was occurring in order to repair the system. After several verbal and written requests for a copy of this report, we finally received a CD-Rom containing the entire smoke test analysis at the end of December 2005. I have had several phone interviews with the project manager from Woolpert in order to more thoroughly understand this report and I think it’s worth sharing with you.

The smoke test was completed in the field over a couple of months and began in September of 2004. First, Woolpert’s crew went from manhole to manhole to visually inspect each one for cracks and leaks. Next, they filled the sewer lines with smoke to check all of the manholes and to begin to trace sewer collection pipe defects. Lastly, they lowered television cameras and photographic equipment into the lines to identify the type of defect and to accurately investigate and describe the problem. However, due to the city’s lack of financial resources, they were only able to televise a few lines.

In all, the crew from Woolpert found 188 defects with a high concentration right in town where the pipes have been in place the longest. They listed these defects in several categories including: “emergency maintenance issue,” “high infiltration area,” pipe blockage,” “impaired pipe,” and “open end pipe.” Within the report, each of these categories can be broken down further to reveal a more comprehensive description of each problem. For instance, when smoke escapes from a pipe in a place other than a manhole, this can signify a cracked, blocked or leaking pipe which might be broadly categorized as “defect” and then as “cracked” in the description of the condition of the pipe. In some cases, storm water pipes were inadvertantly connected with sewer lines. As a result, large amounts of storm water “infiltrates” the sewer system inundating the waste water treatment plant. These are marked as “high infiltration” areas and are sometimes identified when smoke comes out of a storm drain instead of the next manhole. Once this data was collected, it was cross referenced with aerial images and road maps to create both a digital report and a hard copy which included maps.

When the Conservancy received this information, we started our investigation by pinpointing and examining the potential leaks. We began with the emergency maintenance issues, which usually included the description “active sewage spill.” There were three emergency maintenance issues detailed and we examined each one at the beginning of the year to see if they had been fixed yet. Of the three, it appeared that only one had been repaired. The first emergency issue was located on Dunlap Street down Old 441 just south of town. This “emergency issue” was described as “open pipe in ditch with active sewer spill.” I spoke with a resident in that area who said the city workers had just been there at the beginning of January, 2006 and replaced several feet of sewer pipe. The next “emergency maintenance issue” has been difficult to find. It appears to be located at a manhole on private land and we weren’t able to gain access to check it. However, it was described as an “active sewer spill” as well and city workers could not confirm that repairs have been made to it. The last “emergency maintenance issue” is located at Shadyside Rd., near the city housing complex. Here, an abandoned sewer line has caved in and exposed open pipes leaving them susceptible to allow the water from Scott Creek (a tributary to Stekoa Creek) to enter into the sewer system should the creek rise just a few feet. To the best of my knowledge, it appears that this open ended pipe remains vulnerable to infiltration. Since this line is abandoned, the open pipe does not threaten to discharge raw sewage into the creek, but it does over burden the wastewater treatment plant. This is problematic because if a large storm event does occur and the plant receives more water that it can possibly treat, they are allowed by law to discharge partially treated effluent into Stekoa Creek. If each of the high inflow areas in the lines is repaired, the wastewater treatment plant should have the capacity to handle the amount of sewage that the city of Clayton produces.

Let’s take a moment and flash back to the fall 2005 issue of the Chattooga Quarterly to the Stekoa article. That article highlighted some of the success the monitoring project had achieved, but noted that we were getting “our highest readings yet” and that “October and November samples…” [peaked] “…at 15,000 fecal colonies per milliliter.” At that time, we put in a call to former Mayor Danny Gillespie and told him about the alarming results. He said he’d have someone look at it, but when I called him back about it a week later, he said they couldn’t find anything. So, we were forced to locate the leak ourselves. Remember, at this time, we did not have the smoke test; we were shooting in the dark. Subsequently, we found a leak near the Buds & Blossoms gardening store on S. Main Street at a pipe that crossed Scott Creek. This pipe was pouring raw sewage into the creek causing very high levels of fecal coliform bacteria to show up in our tests. This leak was only located and repaired by city workers after we sent a letter that included photographs to city officials. What is interesting about this particular leak is that it was identified in the smoke test report that the city had in its possession at that time, and it was also detailed in a memo from Woolpert in February of 2004.

Just a month after Woolpert began working on the City of Clayton’s sewer system, they created a memo listing 31 “major defects” that they believed needed immediate attention. Number 13 on this list describes very clearly the problem at Buds and Blossoms as a “sanitary sewer overflow.” It is disturbing to think that city officials were aware of a leak that potentially endangered its citizens and made no effort to repair it for nearly two years. Even then, they only replaced that pipe under pressure applied by the Chattooga Conservancy. At that time, Clayton’s problem was more than just a failing sewer system; it was apathy among city officials.

Just a few weeks ago, we presented the details of this story as public information to the city council and new Mayor Tom Ramey. In our report, we summarized the information above, and presented one possible solution to this problem. Mayor Ramey has expressed interest in hiring a new engineering firm to handle our sanitary sewer collection problems. We’ve suggested that the city continue its relationship with Woolpert and finish the job. A thorough analysis of the lines combined with a good cleaning would produce a clear picture of the repairs that the city is facing. Additionally, once they have a cost repair estimate, the city may apply for funding from the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority, which offers low interest loans to municipalities for such upgrades. However, since the city is obviously in serious financial straits, this loan would have to be paid back by the citizens of Clayton, Mountain City, and Tiger. The most common way to repay such debt is to phase in a rate increase over several years, and we believe this is the best option for the city at this time. For example, a mere 5.5 % increase in water and sewer rates every year for five years would produce an extra 1.5 million dollars in revenue for the city. This would translate to only a total average increase of $13 per household in that time, depending on use. In addition, the Chattooga Conservancy has offered to help the city create a pubic education campaign that could help teach citizens how to conserve water in order to limit the effects of the rate increase.

What we are suggesting is an end to this patchwork style repair approach. We would like to see the City of Clayton move away from the gravity-fed system that is the basis of its current operation. Presently, the pipes that cross both Scott Creek and Stekoa Creek are unsightly, and are very susceptible to damage caused by debris moving downstream during rain events. Ultimately, Clayton needs to have the entire collection system redesigned by an engineer and updated. So far, the response at City Hall seems to be positive. Council members are particularly interested in this situation and are showing genuine concern regarding the sanitary sewer system problem. We look forward to continuing this relationship with city officials and working cooperatively to achieve our goal.