Sewage plant could face problems

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers saved the Plains Wastewater Treatment Plant from being overtaken by the Clark Fork River last spring, but when the water levels went down, so did 35-40 percent of the riprap positioned along the shoreline. If the same thing happens next spring, the lagoon will again be in danger, especially since the river is now only about 138 feet from the UV facility.

"Our hands are really tied. We don't have funds to get it done and we don't have the authority to do anything in the river," said Plains Mayor Dan Rowan. It took over two weeks for contractors of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to place more than 5,200 tons of riprap on about 1,000 feet of shoreline along the properties of the town and Plains resident Randy Garrison.

Rowan said the solution is simple – with the water now low, place three rock jetties, each about 50 feet long, in the river perpendicular to the shoreline to slow the heavy spring currents before it gets to the treatment plant property. "That would do it, but we can't get the permits," said Rowan, who is working on an alternative that has been approved by the town council, but will cost more than $1-million and requires three grants to pay for the project.

The plan is to erect a 250-foot long steel barrier that would be placed a few feet in front of the UV facility. Boulders, logs and root wads would be put in front of the barrier, which would be driven about 40 feet into the ground with about 10 feet above ground. However, the town doesn't have the money for such a project and must get all three federal grants approved to do the job.

The town held a public hearing Friday evening to address possible environmental impacts the barrier could have, but no one from the community showed. Officials waited nearly 45 minutes before disbanding. The only people present were the mayor, council member Audrey Kolbeck, Ron Warren of Rocky Mountain Surveyors, town clerk Jasmine Brooks, and Mark Rohweder, a representative of KLJ Engineering of Kalispell, which wrote the preliminary engineering report for the project.

The town has already held two public hearings on the proposed project. In May, about 20 people showed up to hear the plan, but in June, no one from the general public attended. Rohweder made an on-site evaluation of the lagoon earlier on Friday and believes if the river next spring is like it was this year, the lagoon would be in danger again.

Rowan had to declare a state of emergency to get the Corps of Engineers involved, but the federal agency can't be called upon to help unless it's an emergency. The emergency work was valued at around $480,000, but done at no cost to the town.

Even if the grants for the steel barrier are approved, construction wouldn't begin until 2020. The steel barrier is not a permanent solution, according to Rohweder, who said the barrier itself would stand up to just about anything, but if the river erodes the shoreline before the barrier, the UV building and possibly the entire 46-acre sewage facility would again be in jeopardy. He said the only sure fix is to move the lagoon. Rohweder's firm helped select three sites for the plant, but moving it would be around $6-million, said Rohweder.

Rowan said the Corps of Engineers definitely saved the UV facility this year, but he wonders what will happen in the spring of 2019. Rohweder said that if it's a mild winter with little runoff and much less rainfall, the shoreline might be safe for the time being.