Danielsville city leaders are looking for a way to bring the town’s sewage pond up to state environmental standards.
City sewage is treated in a pond off Colbert Danielsville Road near Madison County High School. The treated water is then released into the South Fork of the Broad River.
According to city maintenance advisor Jerry Riley, the water that is pumped into the river does not have a high enough oxygen content to meet state standards. Low oxygen levels can be harmful to wildlife near the release point. But Riley said there has been no evidence of any ill effect on wildlife.
“We have minnows swimming in there,” said Riley. “It’s not killing any wildlife. It’s just higher than the EPD’s rules and regulations.”
Riley told the council that the cost of draining the pond and clearing out all of the sludge would be approximately $100,000. But there may be other options.
City officials were scheduled to meet with the EPD this week to discuss remediation possibilities. One plan, which would cost roughly $3,000, is to run a “return line from the discharge point to the inflow point” at the pond, basically adding fresher water to the point where sewage enters the pond.
The city is also conducting tests at eight locations around town to try to determine possible sewage problem sources.
“We need to do that a couple of times to find out where the problem is coming from,” said Mayor Glenn Cross.
In other business Monday, the council agreed to seek assistance from the state’s Local Assistance Road Program (LARP) for Crawford W. Long Street from the courthouse square to Veteran’s Drive, for Madison Street from Colbert Danielsville Road to the city limits and for Government Circle. The council also agreed to reschedule next month’s meeting due to a conflict with Labor Day. That meeting will be set for Sept. 8 at 7 p.m.
