Borough could clean up its own mess

Aug. 5, 2007

By Russell Stigall/Frontiersman

MAT-SU - The Mat-Su Borough may not be full of it yet, but it could get be if it doesn't plan now for how to handle the waste produced by the state's fastest growing region.

The Borough Assembly is examining options for how the Mat-Su Valley's septage is stored and treated. Septage is the concentrated sewage that settles in the bottom of a septic tank while the main liquid component leeches into an absorption field.

While Valley septic service companies take their septage to Anchorage - about 13.6 million gallons annually - growth and the future ability for Anchorage to accept all the Valley's waste may force the Borough to consider other options for disposal, according to a report by HDR Alaska. HDR Alaska studied the situation at the request of the Borough Assembly.

By 2030 the Valley is expected to pump about 38.1 million gallons of septage, HDR Alaska reports, adding there are four scenarios the Borough should consider:

€ Continue to haul to Anchorage as long as possible.

€ Install a consolidation facility and haul the septage in bulk from there.

€ Build a co-treatment plan with Wasilla or Palmer.

€ Build a regional septage disposal facility.

HDR Alaska recommends the Borough look further into building a treatment facility in the Valley, whether cooperatively with a municipality or on its own.

Keith Rountree, public works director for the Borough, said the Borough can build either a conventional septage treatment plant or a treatment facility like one Mark Masteller proposed building at the Valley's new recycling center.

That Masteller's facility would bring new technology to the Borough would be a plus, Rountree said.

Mark Masteller of the Alaska Center for Appropriate Technology wants to build environmentally-friendly and efficient wastewater treatment in the Valley, called Solar Aquatic. The system, also called a living machine, is a system of filtration that uses aquatic plants and animals to treat sewage.

Borough Manager John Duffy said the Solar Aquatic system proposed by Masteller would be more cost effective than a traditional sewage treatment facility with concrete ponds and huge pumps.

“I think it is Masteller's approach,” Duffy said. “That is the way to go. It's very competitive in both capital cost and operation.”

Based on HDR's estimates, which are conservative, Duffy said he believes a septage facility could be built based on revenue bonds.

Duffy said the Borough's time is short to get a project started.

“I would like, personally, to look at the next five years at the latest to have it built,” he said. “I think [Anchorage's] future on being able to dump what comes out of their sewage system is short lived.”

Anchorage give the septage it handles only primary treatment before being released directly into the Cook Inlet, said David Brown, chair of Animal Care and Regulation.

"They squeeze the thick stuff out of the thin stuff and they burn the thick stuff and the thin stuff is chlorinated and pumped out," Brown said.

Girdwood, Eagle River and Mat-Su Valley sludge all goes to Anchorage.

Rountree said the wastewater released into the Turnagain Arm is not regulated much yet. With Cook Inlet beluga whale populations in decline the Environmental Protection Agency or the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation could force Anchorage to better filter its wastewater release. This could result in higher per-gallon rates for septage or a limit on how much of the Valley's waste Anchorage will take.

Contact Russell Stigall at 352-2267 or russell.stigall@frontiersman.com.