Lick Creek cannot become the next victim of their negligence.” “It’s obvious that the WADC is completely unable to manage their existing infrastructure. “The WADC should be focused on the upkeep and maintenance of their current treatment plants - rather than bulldozing through the Hickman County community to put a Band-Aid on a problem of their own making,” said Rodes Hart, a founder of Save Lick Creek. County commissioners say WADC officials later told them that the sewer plant would mostly serve Dickson and Williamson County. Hickman County commissioners also complained that they had initially been told that the WADC’s $249 million sewer plant would bring essential lines and pump stations to the county, parts of which remain underdeveloped. Members of Save Lick Creek, a community group that formed around the issue, spoke with officials at TDEC and learned that 97% of the water treated would come from Williamson and Dickson counties. Since the Dickson utility announced plans in February to build a wastewater treatment facility in Hickman County, it has faced opposition from residents who have argued their rural community is being treated as a dumping ground for wealthier communities. Those areas without service rely on septic systems which have infiltration and inflow issues as well,” said Adams. “It is important to note that the proposed East Hickman Reclamation Facility would extend service to areas of Hickman County which currently do not have sewer service, not to existing customers. The WADC is monitoring inflow and infiltration using models recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency and Mike Adams, WADC executive director, said the measurements are significantly lower than “ the single opinion regarding the Jones Creek facility in Dickson County,” referring to Kurz.
Leaking collection systems that are not repaired or rehabilitated always get worse,” he said. “This mentality of solving the (inflow and infiltration) problem by ‘bigger is better’ type thinking is bogus. “The logical conclusion is that if the system focused on spending money for repairing and rehabilitating its system, then a plant expansion would not be needed for years,” said Kurz, adding that a rehabilitation program would cost about $10 million, compared to the proposed $249 million sewer plant along Lick Creek. The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation list Lick Creek as “exceptional water.” (Photo: John Partipilo)ĭata collected throughout 2020 and provided by the Division of Water Resources at TDEC showed that total flow to the Dickson treatment facility exceeded its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit for 110 days of the year due to the deteriorated condition of WADC’s collection system. Kurz has also worked with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. It may cause an overflow or backup in someone’s home,” said Kurz, a sewer service contracting and consulting engineer who conducted an independent analysis. “It costs more to pump it around, and also it may be so extreme that it fills the pipe and would allow a mixture of sewage and water to get to the sewage treatment plant. A public utility’s proposal to discharge wastewater from heavily populated counties into rural Hickman County would be unnecessary if the utility district maintained its systems, according to an engineer who prepared an analysis of the Water Authority of Dickson County.Ī 2020 report by George Kurz analyzing the WADC’s annual treated wastewater flow showed that 61% of the total flow treated was clear water that had leaked into the system, leading to increased costs related to treating diluted sewage.