Mattawa keeps wastewater facility going after fire
While only charring can be seen from the outside of the Mattawa wastewater treatment building visible from the road, the entire blower room was destroyed.
Rachal Pinkerton/Columbia Basin Herald
MATTAWA — The Mattawa wastewater treatment facility is functioning with temporary measures in place after a fire destroyed the blower room early Thursday morning.
On Saturday, the Mattawa City Council held a special meeting to discuss the situation and take the next steps necessary to begin repairs to the facility.
The cause of the fire had not been determined.
“At this point, it is believed to be electrical,” said Juan Ledezma, Mattawa Public Works director.
Currently, diesel-powered compressors are running 24 hours per day to keep the facility running. The rental cost for them is $1,900 a day, not including fuel costs. Fuel must be added to them every five hours.
During the meeting on Saturday, the council voted to rent two compressors from a company in Texas that specializes in helping cities with this kind of problem. It will cost the city $21,000 for delivery, setup and rental of the compressors for two months, to replace the diesel units running now. Instead of being diesel-powered, the compressors from Texas will be hard-wired into the electrical grid. Overall, the compressors will cost the city $360 a day.
“The two months buys some time,” said Nancy Wetch, of Gray & Osborne Inc., the city’s engineering firm. “It is a long-term temporary solution.”
The two months will allow the city to take a breath and see if there are any more cost-efficient options available. The city has the option of purchasing the two compressors for $95,000. While the option to purchase the compressors outright was discussed, the rental option was decided upon for the time being. Half of the rental costs can be applied to the purchase of the compressors.
Wetch thinks that, if all goes well, in six to eight months the city could have the wastewater treatment facility running as it was before the fire.
She thinks that insurance may be a problem for the city, as insurance adjusters tend not to understand how wastewater treatment plants work.
While the city waits for the insurance money, there are a few options. Low-interest loans are available to the city with an emergency declaration. The city passed a preliminary emergency declaration at the meeting on Saturday and a formal resolution will be presented on Thursday during a regular council meeting.
Rachal Pinkerton may be reached via email at [email protected].