Bobby Cassell, Dr. Sue Cantrell
Lenowisco Health District, VA
Adequate, affordable and reliable wastewater treatment can be provided to isolated clusters of low income households when public sewage treatment is not an option, resulting in an improved quality of life in the community. The Imboden Community Wastewater Treatment Project employs new technology in wastewater treatment to provide homeowners in Imboden, Virginia, a former "coal camp," an alternative to the discharge of inadequately treated wastewater into Pigeon creek, thus eliminating a public health threat, a nuisance odor, and improving the water quality in the stream.
Background
For decades, beginning in the late nineteenth century, coal mining companies constructed and supplied housing for employees in communities near mining operations. Such communities came to be called "coal camps" and furnished housing for thousands of residents in Wise County in the early 1900s. In most of these camps the homes disposed of wastewater by directly discharging into the requisite stream near which the communities were built. In 1963, Virginia implemented regulations governing the disposal of wastewater that set standards for the design and treatment of disposal systems. Coal camps in Wise County were located in such terrain that the regulations did not permit construction of individual onsite treatment systems and were located far from regional treatment plants. Individual houses and, in some cases, entire camps were abandoned and the houses destroyed. However, some homeowners in coal camps persisted and as these homes presented affordable options to first time homeowners, new families even moved into the communities. The health department has worked with the homeowners in the community of Imboden to eliminate the public health hazard posed by the existing discharge of inadequately treated wastewater into Pigeon Creek.
The Project
The Imboden Community Wastewater Treatment Project began in 1998 as a cooperative effort led by the health department, between the community and several public and private entities to provide a wastewater treatment system that could be maintained long term. Engineers of the Virginia Department of Health have designed the proposed system. Funding for construction of the wastewater treatment system is being sought. Sewage usage fees assessed to the homeowners will pay for system maintenance expenses.
Alternatives
Construction of an alternative treatment system for a cluster of homes such as in Imboden where access to public sewage treatment does not exist and conventional individual onsite systems cannot be installed is the only option for the community as it currently exists. Extending the lines to access public sewage treatment may be a competitive concept in other areas but not economically appealing in this situation. Maintaining the status quo is not desired by the community or regulatory agencies.
Management Team
Mr. Emmett Wampler, the Environmental Health Manager of the Lenowisco Health District, provides the current management for this project. Eleanor S. Cantrell, MD, the district director of the health district, and Bob Cassell, the Business Manager of the health district advise Mr. Wampler. Mr. Wampler has over thirty years experience in environmental health in Virginia and Mr. Cassell has over thirty years experience as Business Manager of the district, managing a budget of approximately $4 million.
The Future
Housing needs are projected to continue in Wise County as the employment slump of the past two decades demonstrates evidence of reversal. Historical landmark designation of coal camps and the resulting interest in the restoration of these communities, combined with the need for low cost housing, is expected to make the purchase of a home in a former coal camp attractive to young families just starting out. The long term success of this wastewater treatment project will demonstrate the viability of this option to other isolated cluster communities including other former coal camps. Legislators will be asked to support reclamation funds being appropriated for the ICWTP. Reclamation monies are designated to rectify damage to the environment caused by the coal mining industry, and in so far as coal camps were a part of that industry and the method of sewage disposal from the camps has damaged and is damaging the environment, reclamation money should be directed to correcting this problem by installing systems such as is demonstrated by the Imboden Community Wastewater Treatment Project.
Financials
The Imboden Community Wastewater Treatment Project will generate $5,613 annually in sewage fees collected from residents, which is projected to be sufficient to cover long term operating costs of the system. The project seeks grant funding to cover costs of design and construction of the system in the amount of $122,000.
The Imboden Community Wastewater Treatment Project will provide the homeowners and residents of this small former coal mining camp with an affordable approved sewage disposal system. This community of 15 homes, situated on Pigeon Creek in Wise County, Virginia, presently has an outdated sewage collection system that discharges inadequately treated wastewater directly into Pigeon Creek (see map Appendix A). Stonega Coke and Coal Company constructed this coal camp prior to 1920 for their employees and their families.
Coal camps emerged in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries in the mountainous Appalachian region of Virginia as a convenience to the coal mining operations, providing housing for employees and families near the coal mines. A coal camp is a community of homes, churches, commissaries, theaters, health clinic and schools constructed by a coal mining company for use by employees of the company. Houses, rented to employees by the company, were generally small two bedroom single family cottages or two-family dwellings of frame construction, situated on small lots (averaging 60 ft. X 60 ft. in Imboden), constructed in hollows between mountains and situated on the banks of a stream (see picture Appendix B).
Life in coal camps, as described by Jane Taylor in a 1991 book entitled Coal Towns by C. A. Shiflett, was "idyllic." She elaborated: "We didn’t feel deprived—we just didn’t know things could be any better. We helped each other and played with each other and cried with each other."
Coal camps maintained their own schools and health clinics, staffed by teachers, nurses, and physicians employed by the coal company, which provided services to families in the camp at no charge. The commissaries, owned by the company and the only authorized business in the camp, sold staple goods such as groceries, kerosene and clothing to camp residents. Purchases at the commissary or entrance to the theater could be paid with US currency or an alternative, company-issued money called "script." Social activities in the coal camps revolved around churches and the commissary. In addition, many coal camps had theaters, bands, and even baseball teams (see pictures Appendix C).
Electricity was primarily available to support coal mining operations and only secondarily to a limited number of homes in the camp. Water sources were community springs or wells. A few outlying homes in the camps had pit privies (outhouses) to dispose of waste but wastewater from most homes was carried through a collection pipe that ran through the camp and emptied into the stream, creek, or river, releasing untreated human waste into the water.
As the decades of the twentieth century passed, changes occurred in the coal mining industry. In far southwestern Virginia many coal mining companies left the area. The houses in the coal camps were offered for sale to occupants, many of whom faced relocating or losing their jobs. Those who chose to stay and chance finding employment frequently purchased their house from the coal company. However, with the decline of the coal mining industry and related industries, the opportunities for comparable employment for former miners who remained behind were extremely limited. Most faced long periods of unemployment and many never returned to work. The financial burden of long periods of unemployment left no resources to devote to improving housing. The second half of the twentieth century led to increasing regulation of sewage disposal, outlawing direct discharges such as those in most former coal camps. During the latter decades of the 1900s, regional sewage treatment plants were constructed to serve the larger communities and towns in Wise County. However, by 1990 only 45 % of homes in the county had access to this option, and Imboden and other former coal camps, because of their relatively small number of remaining homes and remote locations, were not among those homes connected. The requirements of the individual onsite sewage treatment regulations, which had become effective in 1963, did not permit the design of systems for many clustered homes in these communities either. Thus, homeowners who occupied these dwellings did so in violation of the regulations. Because suitable alternative affordable housing was not available, solutions to this problem are being diligently sought.
Today, wastewater from the homes in Imboden continues to be collected into a system of underground pipes which ultimately discharges inadequately treated wastewater into Pigeon Creek. This discharge of inadequately treated wastewater high in fecal coliform bacteria degrades the quality of the stream. Pigeon Creek is a tributary of the Powell River that has, for several years, been on the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality’s impaired waters list because of high levels of coliform bacteria. The discharge also presents a potential public health hazard in that humans exposed to the coliform bacteria, as well as viruses, protozoa and other pathogens capable of causing disease which are present in untreated human waste may become ill. Epidemiological data achieving statistical significance supporting actual increased rates of illness associated with contact with untreated human waste in Imboden residents are not available due to the small number of residents of the community, but scientific literature strongly supports the risk.
Additionally residents of Imboden complained of odor problems from the discharge particularly in warmer weather. The lay of the land does not create any natural barriers to human access to the discharge point. Open access to the stream below the discharge point allows domestic animals easy access to the area. They may carry pathological contaminants back into residential areas and expose humans. These environmental and public health concerns can be significantly reduced or eliminated if the wastewater is adequately treated and human contact is prevented.
Geological barriers, small lot size and proximity of homes limit the installation of conventional treatment systems, such as septic tank drainfields. Pipelines which access public sewage treatment works are over one mile from this small community, and the isolation of this cluster of homes combined with the topography make the expense of extending those lines prohibitive (see maps Appendix D).
The Imboden Community Wastewater Treatment Project will design, construct and maintain a wastewater treatment plant to provide adequate sewage treatment for the community of Imboden. A small treatment system, utilizing a media filter, will treat wastewater sufficiently to conform to all legal requirements and economically enough to be an attractive solution to low-moderate income homeowners. The treated effluent can be dispersed into a soil based dispersal system, such as a shallow trench system, to reduce the movement of nutrients and bacteriological contaminants and limit human contact with the effluent. Such a system will be a reliable, affordable and appealing method of sewage treatment, eliminating a potential health hazard and nuisance from the community and improving water quality in the creek. Additionally, homeowners are expected to realize some appreciation in property values by the improvement of adding proper sewage disposal.
The projected cost of $122,000 for the installation of the system will be funded by a grant. Homeowners will be charged a monthly fee based on water usage, projected to total $5,613 per year. This money will pay for monitoring and maintaining the system and will fund a reserve account for contingencies. The Town of Appalachia presently supplies water to the residents of Imboden and usage is metered. Town representatives have agreed to bill and collect the sewage fee in conjunction with the water bills. After charging their 5% administrative fee, the town will forward fees collected to the PSA and the money will be placed in reserve and used to maintain the system. System maintenance includes, but is not limited to these costs:
Lighting at the treatment plant;
A phone line necessary for remote monitoring;
Cost of obtaining samples and lab fees associated with analysis of samples;
Pump/treatment plant maintenance/replacement; and
septic tank pumpouts (average necessity every 5 years).
The Tennessee Valley Authority has agreed to conduct water sampling in Pigeon Creek for fecal coliform bacteria above and below the current discharge point prior to installation of the treatment system to provide baseline data on the contribution of the discharge to the coliform counts in the stream. The first five samples were obtained during January 2000, and the results are shown in the following table.
These findings clearly indicate that coliform counts in the stream are much higher below the discharge point than above it and support contribution of this discharge to the high counts observed. Total coliform bacteria include fecal coliform organisms, which are bacteria that normally inhabit the intestinal tracts of humans and warm-blooded mammals and are found in great numbers in fecal waste, as well as nonfecal coliform bacteria that are generally widely distributed in nature, not necessarily fecal waste. Total coliform bacteria counts provide reasonable evidence of the bacteriological safety of water. It would be expected that removing this discharge would improve the water quality in the stream by lowering both the total and fecal coliform counts. After installation of the system, TVA has agreed to continue to conduct quarterly fecal coliform testing on the stream for a period of two years and will report results to the health department and the community. Monitoring wells situated between the dispersal system and the creek will be used to monitor movement of the effluent in the environment.
The Lenowisco Health District will conduct sampling and analysis of the effluent from the treatment unit for several indicators of the adequacy of treatment, prior to dispersal in the soil. Surveys of homeowners will ascertain any esthetic improvement in the community related to alleviation of disagreeable odors.
The immediate benefits and goals of the ICWTP Project will be to benefit the community of Imboden by:
Supplying sewage treatment to homeowners;
Eliminating a public health risk and nuisance odor;
Increasing property values and resale potential of homes; and
Improving water quality in the creek.
Use of the newer technology in the design of this system will achieve a level of treatment which compares favorably with that achieved in public treatment facilities and will be accomplished by the most economical means and sooner than expected if consideration were being given extension of public sewer lines. Long term maintenance of the system will not preclude its ongoing use. Package treatment systems can provide long term solutions to the problem of providing adequate sewage treatment to clusters of homes in remote areas where public sewage treatment is unlikely to be economically feasible. Many former coal-mining camps throughout the Appalachian region fit this description and have this need. Demonstrating the success of this project, proposals will be made to congressional representatives that Federal mining reclamation money should be used to install systems such as this to serve other former coal mining camps, with similar arrangements for long term maintenance.
The Imboden Community Wastewater Treatment Project (ICWTP) is a grant-funded special project operated by the Lenowisco Health District of the Virginia Department of Health, an agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The health department is a regulatory agency with statutory responsibility for assuring compliance with laws regulating sewage disposal and with a desire to educate the public about the value of compliance.
The district director is Eleanor S. Cantrell, MD. The project manager is Emmett Wampler. The business manager for the health district is Bob Cassell. The geographic area to be served by this project is the community of Imboden located in Wise County, Virginia. Those living downstream of the project as well will appreciate the success of the project.
The community of Imboden has worked with the health department and other partners for two years to reach agreement on the best method to address the sewage disposal problem. Commitments from local government and community leaders, Penn Virginia, Tennessee Valley Authority and the Wise County Public Service Authority (PSA) have been secured. An earlier attempt to secure funding for startup and installation costs of the project from the Appalachian Regional Commission was unsuccessful. Thus the most immediate need for the project at this time is securing funds for installation of the system.
Wastewater treatment and disposal is today a highly regulated process designed to ensure that public health and the environment are not adversely impacted by the disposal of waste. Presently connection to public sewage treatment facilities and use of conventional septic tank/drainfield disposal systems are the primary methods that homeowners have available to accomplish this.
Prior to 1962 in Virginia, however, there were no regulations governing wastewater disposal from individual homes. In rural areas of Virginia, homes were often built along streams, rivers and other bodies of water and discharged wastewater into these waterways. As populations increased and the risk to human health and, more recently, the environment and aquatic life became apparent, discharging untreated wastewater became less acceptable and ultimately illegal. In 1963 Virginia adopted the first set of regulations governing on-site sewage disposal. Those regulations have undergone several revisions in the intervening years, with each revision generally providing for increased levels of treatment affording additional safeguards to protect the environment and public health. Under the present regulations, approximately ninety percent of applicants in Wise County are able to install a conventional onsite septic system with drainfield to meet wastewater disposal needs. However small lot size and unsuitable soil continue to prohibit most former coal camp homes from utilizing this option. Alternatives to traditional septic tanks and drainfields have afforded the option of providing adequate wastewater treatment in such locations. Such systems, known as "alternative discharge systems" have become technologically more advanced and thus afford homeowners more options for installation of approved systems at houses that previously could not accommodate conventional systems. These systems lend themselves well to design for cluster housing, with a single treatment unit serving multiple houses.
The cost of design and construction of such alternative systems requires an initial investment of several thousand dollars, and a commitment to ongoing maintenance of the system. Although several types of alternative systems are currently approved for use in Virginia, the initial costs of construction are very similar. Unique site characteristics and design features of the various alternative systems account for the suitability of a particular system for a specific site. Maintenance requirements and costs vary between systems, but generally when costs are annualized and allocated to a monthly budget plan, the monthly installment payment is one which the low to moderate income homeowners of Imboden found acceptable.
The long term success in the operation of this alternative wastewater treatment system for existing cluster homes in a remote area of the county will demonstrate the potential viability of this methodology for similarly challenged communities. Forecasts of demand for single family dwellings in Wise County indicate a shortage of low to moderate priced single family homes, as employment opportunities with state and Federal Department of Corrections generate jobs and increase the demand for suitable housing. The opportunity presents to improve existing housing in these former coal camp communities with their inherent historical significance to the region to meet a portion of the projected need.
The Imboden Community Wastewater Treatment Project will provide approved sewage treatment for 15 houses in the Imboden community. The homeowners who occupy the homes are individuals between 50 and 75 years of age in thirteen of the fifteen homes. Families with young children occupy the remaining two homes. The movement of young families into "coal camps" is observed in many instances as these communities offer affordable housing for many first time buyers. Married couples reside in fourteen of fifteen homes, with only one dwelling occupied by a single individual. The average household size is 2.1. Seventy percent of the adult occupants are retired. The average household income range is in the low to moderate range. Most adult residents are not high school graduates. All residents are Caucasian. The average appraised value of the houses in Imboden is $18, 368, ranging from $8,400 to $39,000.
For the past two years the local health department has worked with community representatives to identify options for these homeowners to correct the sewage disposal problem in the community. Interest from the residents has been high and support has been full, even when discussions of the additional sewage charges that will result have occurred. Homeowners are educated about the health risks of exposure to the untreated waste, have firsthand knowledge of the nuisance odor associated with the raw sewage, and appreciate the improved value of their homes for themselves and for future owners in taking this much needed step. There are no plans to extend public sewer lines to the community at this time. In the past, there have been no options other than the present discharge or abandonment of the communities.
Wise County has, in the 1980s and 1990s, gone through an economic slump related in no small part to a significant downturn in the coal mining industry in the area. During this time the county saw unemployment figures soar to over 15% for many months, while the rest of the state and the country were enjoying rates under 5%. In the 1990s, decisions to recruit various businesses and governmental operations to the area began to be successful and created a greater demand for housing. New construction to meet this need has been slow in beginning, and opportunities to restore and refurbish existing housing may address some of the demand. At the same time, long time residents of the county recognized the impending extinction of a way of life embodied in the coal camps and desired to salvage some of the camps remaining. A few community groups have begun to educate regarding the historical significance of these camps and are seeking historical designation of these sites. The desire of these grassroots efforts to enhance the local knowledge and appreciation for the significance of this aspect of the culture by seeking historical landmark designation, associated with physical refurbishment of the houses in the camps coupled with the increased demand for housing in the county and the health department's and residents' interest in addressing a long standing problem with sewage disposal creates an opportunity for resolution.
In the past ten years, several new designs have been introduced in the wastewater treatment market which have particular suitability and appeal to clustered housing. More recently the technique of pretreating wastewater and dispersing the effluent from the treatment plant into shallow trenches instead of discharging into creeks and rivers has been approved. A system of collection pipes and watertight underground septic tanks will be installed to collect wastewater from the homes in Imboden. This system will be adequate to handle a volume of 2500 gallons per day, based on average water consumption per home of 150 gallons per day. Water usage in Imboden is metered and records for a one-year period of time beginning in December 1998 were analyzed to determine the average daily consumption.
Septic tanks afford primary treatment of wastewater by anaerobic digestion, breaking down waste in an oxygen free environment. Wastewater from the septic tanks is then pumped to a dosing (recirclation) tank from which it will be pumped to the media filtration unit that provides aerobic treatment (further breakdown of waste in oxygenated environment). The treatment unit employs a recirculating filtration process set at 10:1 dilution, meaning that after each pass through the filtration medium, 10% of the effluent will be directed out to the dispersal system and 90% will be recirculated through the media filtration system. The unit utilizes either sand or Black Beauty (a by-product of burning coal) as the filtration medium, with a 1-2 mm effective size and less than 2 uniformity coefficient, loading at a rate of 5 gpd/sq. ft.. Ten percent of the effluent of each filtration cycle is pumped from the treatment plant and dispersed in the soil utilizing a drip irrigation system installed at a depth of eight inches (shallow installation). The expected effluent quality prior to subsurface dispersal will be BOD 5/TSS <10 mg/l, fecal coliform < 10^4 counts/100 ml, and ammonia-N <5 mg./l. Shallow trenches will be sized and installed such that the subsurface water quality in the area fifty feet away from the trenches will be no different from the background subsurface water quality in terms of bacteriological (fecal coliform) and nutrient (Total N) contaminants. Movement of the treated wastewater through the soil will further improve the bacteriological quality of the water. Monitoring wells will be located between the underground drip irrigation system and the stream to sample and evaluate the movement of the effluent through the soil and the ultimate impact on the stream, if any. The system is engineered to accommodate the fifteen existing homes in Imboden based upon the volume of water usage over a one year period of time. In the future, should the number and/or size of the homes in the community change significantly, simple and inexpensive measures can be taken to adjust for the change in volume of wastewater to assure optimum treatment.
This system, combining pretreatment using a media filter followed by dispersal of the effluent through a drip irrigation system installed shallowly in the surrounding soil, will satisfy both the requirement for adequate wastewater disposal and the community desire to improve the water quality in the creek.
As environmental issues such as degrading water quality in public streams and rivers continue to be of concern and human exposure to untreated or partially treated waste poses new threats or at least previously unknown threats, regulation of and improvements in methods of wastewater disposal will continue to be major environmental priorities.
Few immediate competitors are positioned to offer sewage treatment to the community of Imboden. However, possibly the greatest competitor this project may face is the status quo. For years, residents have discharged inadequately treated wastewater into Pigeon Creek. However, with education, assistance and encouragement from the health department, current sentiment in the community does not indicate that the residents want the status quo. Personal health concerns, environmental concerns, historical preservation and statutory requirements all provide impetus to move forward with the project.
In the future, there is the possibility that public sewer lines will become available in the area and be attractive to the homeowners, thus eliminating the need for this system. Based on past experience in the county when public sewer lines are provided to a community, those residents who are satisfied with the performance of their existing approved system often do not elect to connect to the line. Present estimates for extension of public sewer lines to Imboden place the cost at $437,960 (see appendix E for breakdown of costs)
Finally, future improvements in technology may challenge the need for this type of system. It is true that significant advances in alternative treatment system design have occurred in the past five to ten years. As population continues to increase and concerns about water quality and quantity are raised, demands to improve the treatment of wastewater may surpass this type of system’s ability to comply with those demands. This is not foreseen to occur in the next two decades, however.
Homeowners in Imboden take pride in their community as evidenced by their efforts to update the exterior appearance of the dwellings, landscaping of the lots and common areas, and their efforts to seek historical landmark designation (see Appendix F, current homesite in Imboden). This project will further heighten their pride by eliminating a significant source of pollution from the community and stigma associated with the present situation. Additionally, appraisers in the area consider the method of sewage disposal when determining the value of a home and add value for reliable approved systems. The ICWTP will increase the value of the homes in Imboden by an average of 13.6% with a range of 6% to 29.7%, depending on the base value of the home.
District environmental health staff working on the project plan to meet regularly with the homeowners to assure they remain appraised of the developments in the project. Two residents identified as key leaders have come forward from the community and are often are a contact point. These key leaders then inform other residents. A town meeting has been held to afford all community residents the opportunity to speak about the project and participants voiced universal support for the project. Individual homeowners have been contacted during the initial stages of development of the project for their input on various issues relating to the siting of collection tanks and lines, siting the pump house, location of the treatment plant, use of security lights and other matters. Every attempt has been made to address community need in all stages of project development. Initially, brochures describing the public health risks of exposure to human waste and the regulations governing proper wastewater disposal were used in conjunction with face to face meetings with residents. Future formats for keeping residents appraised of developments include conducting town meetings, informing key leaders, and contacting individual owners.
Engineers employed by the Virginia Department of Health will design the Imboden Wastewater Treatment Project plant. The contracting firm, which is awarded the bid following an open bidding process, will construct the project. Oversight of both initial phases of the project is the responsibility of the health department environmental health staff and engineers.
The Wise County Public Service Authority has agreed to monitor and maintain the system when it becomes operational. They have experience in monitoring and maintaining the only other system of similar design in the county. They will employ a system of remote monitoring of the treatment plant. Tennessee Valley Authority will monitor water quality in Pigeon Creek quarterly for two years after the system becomes operational. Health department staff will monitor the quality of the treated effluent as it leaves the treatment plant prior to dispersal in the soil. The project manager will receive and evaluate reports from all monitoring activity.
In the event of a power failure, the system has a reserve capacity equal to one-third of the daily flow. Community residents will be informed to curtail their water usage during times of power failure. PSA employees will transfer the system’s power supply to an emergency generator if power failure is prolonged and this is required. Pump failure causing system failure will be detected by the remote monitoring by the PSA and a backup pump which will be on hand at all times will be installed by PSA staff.
Annual maintenance of the system, including replenishing the media filter, will be the responsibility of the PSA. Approximately every three to five years, pumps will require replacement and approximately every five years the tanks in the collection system will require pumping.
The homeowners will be assessed a sewer bill calculated on the basis of their water usage, which is currently metered. The methodology used to determine the sewer bill is identical to that used for county residents whose wastewater disposal is through the large regional public sewage treatment works. Imboden residents will therefore pay sewage rates identical to other county residents. Based on an analysis of the water usage rates for the community of Imboden for the past one year, projections of the annual amount collected for sewage indicates that 66.5% of this amount will cover all expenses associated with the maintenance of the system. This includes monthly charges for electricity, telephone line, and security light as well as annual and less frequent system maintenance and upkeep. The reminder of the money will go into a reserve fund to be used for contingencies. Sewage rates are tied to the charges for the volume of water used and will be subject to adjustments for inflation as water rates are adjusted. The increase realized in the value of the homes will offset a portion of these new costs to homeowners over the long term.
The Town of Appalachia has agreed to bill for sewage service to Imboden residents. The Town currently bills Imboden residents for water usage. The town has a system in place to bill residents in other portions of the county who receive both public water and sewage, with the sewage portion of the bill equaling 100% of the water bill plus a $5 fee. The residents of Imboden have agreed to this rate; the town can easily bill the residents this amount, as it would require a process identical to that currently in use. Based on analysis of the past year’s water usage, the amount generated from Imboden residents using this formula is projected to be adequate to maintain the system (66.5% of funds projected will cover maintenance) and provide a contribution to a contingency fund (33.5%). The Town of Appalachia has agreed to receive the monies and forward the amount received minus 5% administrative fee to the PSA monthly. The PSA will maintain these funds in three separate accounts and separate from other money handled. Money from the first account will be used to pay monthly operating expenses. Money from the second account will be used to pay infrequent but anticipated maintenance and upkeep costs such as annual replacement of portions of the media filter, replacement of pumps, and collection tank pumpouts. The final account will be a reserve account for contingency, or unanticipated expenditures related to the project. In the event that home occupancy rate of Imboden homes is less than 100%, thus decreasing the projected sewage fee collected for that time period, the money collected will be used to fully fund ongoing monthly expenses first, then to fund the anticipated infrequent expenses second, and to the contingency account last. Homeowners who are delinquent in payment of either portion of the bill are subject to involuntary disconnection of both water and sewer service.
Accounts are subject to audit by the auditors of the town of Appalachia, Wise County PSA and the community. Homeowners who either through deliberate misuse or negligence cause damage to any portion of the treatment system will be financially responsible for the cost of repair.
The Tennessee Valley Authority will conduct "before installation" water samples above and below the current discharge point to test for fecal coliform bacteria in the stream to provide a baseline water quality analysis. TVA will continue to conduct quarterly fecal coliform testing on the stream for a period of two years after installation. After this period, the Health Department will determine stream-monitoring frequency based on experience with the system. However, minimum annual inspection and sampling will be conducted for long-term monitoring. In addition, samples of the effluent from the filter and monitoring wells near the subsurface dispersal system will be taken each quarter for two years by the health department. Beginning in the third year of the project, a minimum annual sample will be taken and additional samples if needed, based on available funding.
The overall success of the project rests on the shoulders of the health department, Town of Appalachia, Wise County Public Service Authority, National Small Flows Clearinghouse, Tennessee Valley Authority, Penn Virginia Land Corporation, the Wise County Board of Supervisors, the Lenowisco Planning District, and several other community partners not the least of which are the homeowners in Imboden. All major decisions on start up will require the cooperation of all partners. As the system comes on-line, decisions will be made by partners agreeing to accept responsibility for that phase of the project in conjunction with the health department.
There are no employees assigned to this project full time. All work of this project comes from concerned agencies, including federal and state agencies and private professional contractors. Technical support for the project are professionals either from the health department or other state and federal agencies who are recognized in their field for their knowledge and interest in cleaning up streams and rivers. Wise County Health Department will serve as the lead agency and keep all partners informed about the progress of the project either through town meetings, letters, contracts, telephone calls, email, and face to face discussions.
Expected revenue for the construction phase of the project will come from grants. The amount projected to spend in the construction phase is $122,000 (Appendix G). Estimates of the cost of this project are based on
Expected revenue for the ongoing maintenance of the project will come from payments of the homeowners. Each will pay an amount equal to 100% of their water bill plus $5.00 monthly. These fees are projected to generate $5613 per year (See Appendix H). Since additional connections to this system are not expected fees may be adjusted according to increases in future water rates.
Monthly expense is expected to be $106 or $1272 per year. These expenses are as follows:
In addition, the projected long term costs of system maintenance are as follows:
Installation of the monitoring wells and sample testing will be donated by TVA for the first two years of the project. In the third year PSA has agreed to do the monitoring at an estimated cost of $20 per month that is included with other monthly expenses. All funds not obligated for monthly expenses or long term maintenance will be placed into a reserve account to pay for contingency (See Appendix H).
[ Assumptions | Operations budget | Cash Flow | Balance Sheet ]