A state report noted two problems with Albert Lea’s sanitary sewer system and wastewater treatment plant in 1999.

Friday, September 17, 1999

A state report noted two problems with Albert Lea’s sanitary sewer system and wastewater treatment plant in 1999.

While the annual report doesn’t cite the city with any violations, it requires the City Council to publicly discuss the report.

&uot;You will note in the report that we have a few areas where we have had problems,&uot; said City Manager Paul Sparks. &uot;We are addressing all of those problems including the storm water overloads and the lift station failure.&uot;

The first problem was in January of this year when 1.4 million gallons of sewage were bypassed into the Albert Lea Lake channel after a valve stuck in the city’s former treatment plant, now the sewer system’s main lift station.

To prevent sewage from backing up into basements, the city’s Minnesota Pollution Control Agency permit does allow bypasses into the lake.

But city staff are now in the process of preventing any further malfunctions at the plant with the council approving about $900,000 in mechanical upgrades in August.

With the improvements, two valves would have to fail before a lake discharge would become necessary.

The state’s report also notes two incidents this summer.

Heavy rains and sump pumps illegally connected to the sewer system caused smaller neighborhood lift stations to fail twice this summer. To again prevent backups, utility workers bypassed about 300,000 of rain-diluted sewage into the storm sewer system, leading to the lake.

&uot;We had a poor score in the infiltration system,&uot; Sparks said of the report. &uot;That’s when we had to bypass into the storm water system.&uot;

He said the city is taking steps to prevent further overflows, but the city can’t stop abundant rains.

&uot;We’re spending about $1.5 million to correct the areas they have identified,&uot; he said.

In its report, the state also said the city should start charging an impact fee for new residential and industrial hookups – $5,000 for residential and $100,000 for large industry.

Larger cities charge these fees, but Albert Lea has resisted because it would hamper development, Sparks said.

&uot;We have never done this before because we felt it was too big of a burden,&uot; he said. &uot;Our staff found that it was too negative for outstate communities.&uot;