Fresh Loaf

The Atlanta Department of Watershed Management says that R.M. Clayton, the wastewater treatment plant that was knocked offline yesterday thanks to flooding, is once again operational. The discharges of minimally treated wastewater have ended.

The Scattahoochee: Not as flavorful as it was Monday, but still refreshing!

From the department:

By mobilizing all available personnel and resources, the Department has been able to restore function to the primary and tertiary treatment systems of the RM Clayton Water Reclamation Center and halt the bypass of raw sewage into the Chattahoochee River. Commissioner Rob Hunter termed the effort ‘heroic’ and praised plant personnel who have worked around the clock since the river flooded the plant.

The floodwaters have been pumped out of the plant, which is now receiving sewage flows. The flows are receiving treatment at about 70 percent of normal. Plant Manager Rob Bush and Bureau of Wastewater Treatment and Collection Deputy Commissioner David St. Pierre said the Nancy Creek Tunnel was brought online at about 3 am.

The plant is still looking at millions of dollars in repairs, however. Err on the safe side and continue to avoid flood waters.

(CL file photo by Jeff Riley)

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Yes, the Chattahoochee will appear a little extra brown in the near future, as city officials have been given no choice but to dump dookie and minimally treated wastewater into the river.

Atlanta Department of Watershed Management Commissioner Rob Hunter this morning told reporters that serious flooding has shut down the city’s R.M. Clayton wastewater treatment plant in Northwest Atlanta and forced the department to dump raw sewage into the river.

The plant, which Hunter said is the largest in the Southeast, has sustained damages in the “tens of millions of dollars.” On an average day, it can treat 180 million gallons of poop-tinged liquid. As the AJC notes, it’s part of the city’s controversial combined sewage overflow project.

“It’s not imperiling or causing a problem for any drinking water supplies, but people need to minimize contact with the Chattahoochee River and all flood waters,” Hunter said. The city has already lined up contractors to make repairs and made first steps to qualify for federal assistance. But until the R.M. Clayton plant is back up and running, more sewage will be discharged into the river.

Sally Bethea of the Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper says the sewage discharge’s long-term impact on the waterway depends on when watershed officials fix R.M. Clayton — and how long the flooding continues.

(more…)

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Click image for larger map

Being the kind souls we are, we pass along this “urgent” boil-water advisory from the Atlanta Department of Watershed Management:

Because of a loss of water pressure in the area described below, a boil-water advisory is in effect until further notice. Residents and businesses are advised to boil water used for drinking, cooking or preparing baby food. The water should be boiled for at least one minute after it reaches a rolling boil. This advisory is in effect until further notice.

Effective Date: IMMEDIATELY
Where: Collier Heights, Northwest Atlanta

Boundaries:
North: Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway
South: Collier Road and I-20 West
East: Hamilton Holmes Drive
West: Fulton Industrial Boulevard and Carroll Road NE

Affected streets include Fairburn Road, Bolton Road, Fairlane Drive, Harwell Road, Skipper Drive, Kingston Road, Jamaica Road, Jones Road, Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway and Collier Drive.

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Tennis moms, mall shoppers, and squatters in empty buildings have been given the OK from the Atlanta Department of Watershed to drink water from the tap.

Here’s what the department says caused yesterday’s advisory, the first Atlanta’s experienced in 21 months:

Yesterday’s incident resulted from a battery failure. According to Georgia Power, the initial incident started with a tree falling on one of Georgia Power’s 115,000 volt electrical lines, resulting in electrical power loss at the Northside Pump Station. When utility power was lost from Georgia Power, the emergency generator started as designed. However, when the control system attempted to close the switchgear circuit breaker to utilize the generator power, the battery failed and the Pump Station was not able to switch over to the emergency generator power.

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Nothing kicks off a Monday morning like a 170-page audit of Atlanta’s $4 billion sewer system overhaul. We’re still combing through the beast, but Atlanta Unfiltered’s Jim Walls has already found some tidbits.

Walls:

Atlanta’s water department has illegally kept $4 million that should have been refunded to 29,000 customers who closed their accounts, a city audit shows.

Apparently, part of the problem is that no one ever told customer-service reps in the water department about changes last year in the city code. Auditors said employees who handle refunds were unaware of consumer-friendly changes in refund procedures.

On Friday, the AJC’s D.L Bennett wrote a good overview on some, uhm, financial hurdles facing the city and the project:

Atlanta officials fear the city’s $4 billion water and sewer system overhaul could collapse because the city’s crushing debt and already low credit rating threaten the city’s ability to borrow money in ever-tightening credit markets.

The city hopes Monday to issue $500 million to $700 million in new bonds for the program, with much of the money to refund old debt that must be repaid before interest rates or other factors send payments skyrocketing.

“We’ve got some considerable issues facing us,” city CFO Jim Glass said Friday.

No joke. And we’ve got some considerable reading to do. The audit is available here. (Warning: large PDF)

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Not good news for bonds, the go-to financing tool for many municipal projects.

Dave Williams of the Atlanta Business Chronicle reports:

Representatives of Standard & Poor’s notified city officials March 6 that they were downgrading Atlanta from a rating of AA- to A “with a stable outlook.”

Word of the move was delivered to Mayor Shirley Franklin and members of the city council by Jim Glass, Atlanta’s chief financial officer, at the end of a two-day council retreat devoted largely to discussing the city’s finances.

The downgrade, Williams writes, doesn’t affect the city Department of Watershed Management, which is overseeing a costly upgrade to Atlanta’s antiquated sewer system, or Jackson-Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport.

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Let the taps flow. For now, at least.

From the city’s Department of Watershed Management:

The Department of Watershed Management is restoring water service to Morris Brown College after officials presented the Department with a certified check for $30,000 a few minutes ago. In making the payment, the college complied with Judge Henry Newkirk’s order that Morris Brown pay $100,000 today ($70,000 after this morning’s hearing and $30,000 before 5 pm) toward its delinquent water/sewer bills. The balance on the remaining outstanding accounts, approximately $214,000, is to be paid on or before February 17, and the college must pay current charges.

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Much wailing and gnashing of teeth has been heard in Atlanta over a potential property-tax hike. Fair enough; no one likes paying higher taxes. But relatively little public attention has been paid to the prospect of higher water rates, which will end up costing the average homeowner more than 10 times as much.

At around 1 p.m. today at a special-called meeting, the City Council approved a new water/sewer rate schedule for the next four years that will cause the average monthly household water bill to jump next month from about $85 to $105, a 27-percent increase.

This new rate includes a 15-percent increase to make up for lower revenue due to water conservation. Last year, this measure was introduced with the label “drought surcharge” and people went crazy: The city asked us to conserve water and now it’s punishing us for doing so!

Instead, the city simply rolled it into the new rates, but we’ll pay it just the same. Rates will continue to climb 12.5 percent for the following three years, until we’re eventually paying an average of $143 a month for water.

Council members had debated the water rate increases for weeks; some even hinted they would vote against them. But, in the end, the vote was 13-0; the only amendment calls for an audit of the $4 billion sewer program. Why did everyone finally get on board? Mainly, because they didn’t really have a choice.

The rate hike was necessary to abide by the federal consent decree that mandates the sewer improvements. If the council had voted down the new rates, Federal Judge Tom Thrash could have put the entire program in receivership.

At one point, Council member Kwanza Hall asked city finance chief Janice Davis what would happen if the rates weren’t raised.

Davis’ answer: “The city’s bonds would be downgraded to junk.”

Well, alrighty, then!

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Just minutes ago, the Atlanta City Council unanimously overrode Mayor Shirley Franklin’s veto, and in doing so, echoed their call for the city to conduct an audit of the Department of Watershed Management before the council votes on a 27.5 percent water and sewer rate increase.

UPDATE: Franklin, who’s currently in Las Vegas attending the International Council of Shopping Centers convention — Wayne Brady and Carson Kressley are also at the five-day event — issued this statement:

“As an advocate for the democratic process, I respect the Council’s right and responsibility to exercise the power of their vote, even when we may disagree. As elected officials our actions help determine the fate of this city and I would hope we would all do that based on research, data, best practices and what is in the best interest of the City, its’ residents and visitors.”

UPDATE: From Department of Watershed Management Spokesperson Janet Ward:

The Department of Watershed Management (DWM) continues to believe in open and transparent government. We are one of the most audited departments and utilities in the metropolitan area. An oversight task force from the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority, with representatives of GEFA, the State Environmental Protection Division of the Department of Natural Resources and the City’s internal auditor and Department of Finance, performs an annual audit of our capital program. In addition, a private firm performs an annual external financial audit. Finally, the City’s internal auditor, who is currently undertaking an audit of the Department’s billing and revenue collection systems, performs regular audits of our operations.

The Department’s proposed budget includes funding for two full-time positions in the office of the City’s internal auditor that will be dedicated to auditing Watershed Management. In addition, as directed by a City Council resolution, DWM has been organizing a peer review group to analyze operations and financial management within the Department.

In short, DWM believes in audits. However, there appear to be some technical issues with the resolution passed by Council; because the resolution never went to committee, there was no opportunity to discuss the audit scope, procurement or funding. We look forward to meeting with the City’s internal auditor and with the Chief Procurement Officer as to how they intend to proceed with this effort. We are confident that, a well designed and professionally performed audit will confirm watershed management’s exceptional performance and stewardship.

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This just might suck.

The Atlanta Department of Watershed Management will be working on sewers on Ponce de Leon Avenue near Parkway Drive this Wednesday and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Two lanes will be closed, so proceed with caution or hit up an alternate route.

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Two weeks after Gov. Sonny Perdue’s announcement that local water providers could lift the outdoor watering restrictions in Georgia’s drought-addled counties, many of those spigot guardians were reluctant to do so.

Add the city of Atlanta to that list. At a press conference today, Mayor Shirley Franklin, backed by Robert Hunter, the city’s Department of Watershed Management commissioner, said residents cannot water their brown lawns. Public and private pools, however, can be filled immediately and used during the summer months.

Hunter has said that the exemptions Perdue trotted out — one-person, one-hose watering for 25 minutes a day, three days a week — would be difficult to enforce. The watering restrictions for 61 drought-afflicted counties in North Georgia have been in place since September.

In late October, Perdue ordered all large water users, such as municipalities, utilities and industries, to reduce their water use by 10 percent based on the months of December through March of the previous year. The city initially stumbled out of the gate, but has since met the order. The governor’s mandate still stands, although it lacks any form of penalty to violators. Utilities, by and large the heaviest of water users in the state, are now excluded from the monthly tallies because Carol Couch, director of the state Environmental Protection Division, said they serve a critical function.

More to come on this later, including viewpoints from those who are most affected by the restrictions.

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Note: The city sent a corrected release. Officials say water use by Atlantans dropped 10 percent compared to last year, meeting Mayor Shirley Franklin’s goal. The city didn’t meet Gov. Sonny Perdue’s goal for all jurisdictions drawing water from the Chattahoochee River to cut their water use by 10 percent compared to Dec. 2006-March 2007. Compared to that baseline average, customers only reduced water by 7 percent. Waiting on word from the state Dept. of Natural Resources if there’s a fine or any type of restriction if that goal isn’t met. We’ll keep you updated.

***

Mayor Shirley Franklin applauded the city today for its recent reductions in water use, but emphasized that the changes in behavior shouldn’t be viewed as just a temporary measure.

Compared to this time last year, water use by Atlantans and other city customers dropped 7 percent 10 percent. Customers used 94.18 million gallons per day in November. In Nov. 2006, daily usage was 105.58 million gallons. The city credits the drop-off to conservation, high-density development and water-efficient construction.

Speak it through a press release, Ms. Mayor:

“I congratulate Atlantans on their efforts so far and encourage them to keep looking for new ways to conserve water,” Mayor Franklin said. “We all need to begin to see conservation not as a temporary inconvenience but as a way of life.”

While I applaud the mayor’s recognition of high-density development as a smarter way for the city to grow, I can’t help but wonder if there was that much change in where people live to justify a shift in the numbers. Also, Fairburn, Union City, Hapeville, Sandy Springs and Coweta, Clayton, Fayette and unincorporated Fulton counties are included as city-water customers. Aren’t there a lot more lawns going without water in those areas than there are people filling up high-density developments?

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Just a friendly heads-up if you’re planning to head to Lenox or Phipps to do a little Christmas shopping on Saturday. The city’s Department of Watershed Management is conducting some sewer rehab work from 7 a.m.-1 p.m. at the intersection of Roswell, Peachtree and West Paces Ferry roads. Here’s the info, courtesy of DWM spokeswoman Janet Ward:

Traffic Advisory: Sewer rehab closes lanes at Roswell-Peachtree-West Paces Ferry intersection
When: Saturday, Dec. 1, 7 am-1 pm
What: Moving closure of one single lane on each street
Where: Intersection of Roswell, Peachtree and West Paces Ferry roads
Comments: City crews will be cleaning and inspecting the sewer lines at the intersection of Roswell, Peachtree and West Paces Ferry roads. Motorists are urged to use caution when traveling through the work zone and to use alternate routes when possible. Traffic control will be provided by uniformed officers and stationary devices.

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