City Signs Consent Order For Upgrades
Buena Vista City Council, meeting as the city’s Public Service Authority, this past Thursday approved a consent order with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality that outlines corrective action being taken to bring the city’s wastewater treatment plant into compliance with state water control regulations.
Buena Vista’s 44-year-old WWTP has long been in need of major upgrades in order to meet the DEQ’s increasingly more stringent regulations. The city recently applied for and was awarded a $2.3 million federal Environmental Protection Agency water improvement grant.
The city was notified this past year by the DEQ that the WWTP was out of compliance with regulations over the level of discharges of certain nutrients such as ammonia into the Maury River.
The consent order includes schedules for both short-term and long-term improvements.
One of the short-term improvements came this month as city officials worked with Jordan Combs, executive director of the Maury Service Authority, and officials with Augusta to deliver a critical fix to the discharge levels at a fraction of what it would have cost the cash-strapped city to handle alone.
The WWTP relies on six Rotating Biological Contactors, or RBCs, as its primary treatment system. One of those units, designated B2, had been out of service after its bearings and shaft failed, requiring full replacement. A single new RBC unit runs more than $250,000 before in- stallation costs, and each unit weighs more than 25,000 pounds.
The solution came through an unlikely chain of regional goodwill. The MSA stepped in to help assess the plant’s needs, eventually brokering a partnership with Augusta Water, which operates the Middle River Wastewater Treatment Plant in Verona. Augusta Water had four decommissioned RBC units sitting idle; these units were compatible with Buena Vista’s system and still in working condition. The Augusta Water Board of Directors voted unanimously to donate all four units.
MSA provided technical staff to handle removal, transport and installation. The Lexington Public Works Department also committed personnel to the effort. All four units were delivered to Buena Vista and installed at the facility.
“I cannot express how grateful I am to every member of this team to make this work happen,” said Wayne Handley, interim city manager for Buena Vista.
The plant continues to work with Imboden Environmental Services for operational consulting and with engineering firm RK&K on longer-term improvement planning, as the city pursues funding for broader system upgrades while maintaining compliance with Virginia DEQ discharge permit requirements.
At this past Thursday’s meeting of the Buena Vista PSA that preceded City Council’s regular meeting, Handley explained that the consent order is a binding agreement with the DEQ outlining required corrective actions being undertaken by the city.
“I’ve already met with the engineers twice in the last week or so to discuss what the next steps look like in our action plan,” said Handley. “So, we have a good plan going forward. … We just need to make sure that we are sticking to this timeline, which is, I think, very easy for us to do.”
Stephanie Noel-Branch made a motion to approve the consent order. Michelle Poluikis seconded the motion, which was adopted by a 7-0.
