MOUNT VERNON — The Knox County Commissioners met Monday with Ron Simpson, Knox County Water and Wastewater Department superintendent, and Jason Figgins, assistant superintendent, about a report recently received from the Environmental Protection Agency about the Little Jelloway Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant.

According to the report, the treatment plant “is currently in significant noncompliance due to the frequency and magnitude of violations for total suspended solids.” The report also stated the “effluent data submitted for April 2010 showed a violation of the 30-day average concentration limit for suspended solids and several [carbonaceous biochemical oxygen demand] violations.”

Discharge violations include factors pertaining to insufficient mixing and oxygen transfer in lagoons; ice buildup on surface mixers in winter, necessitating the shutoff of mixers; insufficient biological solids in lagoons following sludge removal in July 2008; maintenance problems with cloth filters on microscreens; and algae growth in the lagoons due to long residence time and increased light penetration.

“We’ve been addressing these issues, since our February meeting, with our maintenance program,” said Figgins.

kenesha.beheler@mountvernonnews.com