DANVILLE — Members of the Danville Village Council decided to throw their hat in the ring for financial help with a wastewater improvement project.
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency recently performed a compliance evaluation at the wastewater treatment plant and found some minor problems with infiltration and inflow in the sewer system. Clean water is entering the sewer system and, at times, overloading the plant.
Village Administrator Robert Shipley said the plant is designed to handle 200,000 gallons of sewer water a day, but on rainy days or when snow melts, about three times that amount of water is pushed through the plant. He said it wasn’t a major violation, but it doesn’t allow the plant to treat the sewage as well as it should.
Brian Coughlin of Bird & Bull Engineering spoke to members of council about the issues the village faces and gave them a possible step for financial help with fixing those problems.
Coughlin said the Ohio EPA is offering principal forgiveness on projects involving sewage treatment plants. Based on the median household income and the village’s sewer rates, Danville is eligible for 50 percent principal forgiveness on projects. That would enable the village to perform projects that would help reduce the amount of clean water entering the sewage system and pay only half of the construction costs.
As the village must get its EPA permit renewed soon, Coughlin recommended the village come up with a master plan to fix some of those issues brought up during the compliance evaluation. By presenting a plan to the EPA, they could spread the cost of the projects over several years. The plan would include mapping the sewer and water systems, and identifying leaks and other issues that may cause the water overload.
Village council members did not want to spend any money at the moment, but agreed to fill out the nomination form for possible principal forgiveness. The nomination forms must be completed by Jan. 4 and the village would be notified if it was on the priority list sometime early in the spring.
