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WARNING ISSUED ON LOST CREEK

Justin Hart,The Daily Mountain Eagle

February 18, 2000

What began as a small leak in the secondary drainage pond of the Parrish sewer system has developed into a bigger problem for the town. The water and materials from the secondary pond broke through the dam and into Lost Creek. However, Mayor Marcel Thomas says it should not pose a problem for the citizens.

"Only the discharge of that secondary pond will be shut down. The sewer system itself will accumulate in that first pond," Thomas said. "We may have to have a pump running to keep the excess water out long enough to do the liner work, but for right now it hasn't affected the citizens' sewer system."

According to Thomas, the leak began around the seal of one of the pipes that support a catwalk dividing the two ponds. The pipe, as well as the ponds lined with a rubberized seal to keep water from seeping.

"We don't know exactly what caused it, Thomas said.

Thomas added that there is monitor on the creek that operates the WEIR Valve, an automatic control valve that regulates how much water is discharged into the creek.

The leak was discovered Sunday morning when one of the operators was checking the valve and noticed water bubbling up out of the ground below the dam. Thomas said the hole was about two or three feet wide when it was discovered.

"We notified the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) that we were having problems on Monday," Thomas said. "Tuesday morning we went back down there and that thing (the leak) had pushed the dirt out and some of the pipe fell in. All the damage happened overnight before we could get started on it. That's how sudden it was."

Thomas said he didn't know how much of the water had escaped into the creek. He said the secondary pond doesn't have the amount of sewage contained in the primary pond because the secondary pond is the last stage before the water is released into the creek.

"It's supposed to be the water that is treated to go into the creek," he said. "I think most of our damage to the creek is the mud and stuff that washed through the dam into the creek."

Thomas said he advised some fishermen who had been fishing in the creek of the problem and suggested they should not eat the fish.

According to Thomas, ADEM did not mention any type of fines, but they did tell him to get started doing what he can to solve the problem.

"We have sandbagged all around the area to stop the water from going into the creek," he said.

Thomas said in order to correct the problem, all the dirt had to be dug back and the control station would have to be moved out of the way. They would then have to dig about 25-30 feet down to the pipe and realign the pipes that allow the water to flow into the creek from the secondary pond. Thomas was not certain of the cost of the project, but he estimated the cost would be in the thousands of dollars.

"We've got a big job and we're jumping on it right now. We've got to get it fixed as soon as possible," he said.

There was no mention of financial help from ADEM to fix the problem, according to Thomas. He did say the town would probably have to have some help.

"I'm sure that it is going to be a costly thing and if the insurance doesn't cover any of it then we are going to be hard hit because we don't have the money for a contractor to come in and do it," he said.

Thomas said there have been late hours put into repairing the damage and work will also be done throughout the weekend. Thomas said he will ask for help from Walker County Commissioner Milvern Nabors to move the dirt and a contractor has been hired to repair the liner.

The date for completion of repairs was uncertain for Thomas, but he did say the weather will play a large part in finishing.

"If it starts raining, that's going to delay us and it's supposed to rain the next couple of days. I don't know how much, but I pray it isn't a whole lot," Thomas said. "We're just going to take it one day at a time and do everything we know how to do to correct it."

COPYRIGHT . 2000 Daily Mountain Eagle, a division of Cleveland Newspapers, Inc. All rights reserved.

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-- Dee (T1Colt556@aol.com), February 20, 2000