As the town of Randolph prepares to build a new wastewater treatment facility, the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation announced this week it has reached a settlement with the town regarding failures of the old plant.
Randolph will pay $56,350 to settle environmental violations stemming from a DEC investigation into the 40-year-old plant. That figure includes a $28,175 penalty and an additional $28,175 contribution to an unspecified "supplemental environmental project." The town also agreed to retain an independent consultant to evaluate the current operations of the facility.
The DEC investigation was prompted by an anonymous complaint in November 2012 of "floatable material and solids being discharged from the wastewater treatment facility to the Third Branch of the White River" according to the state's settlement announcement. The Agency of Natural Resources announcement states:
Agency personnel immediately responded to the complaint and observed toilet paper, human waste, and grease discharging from the facility’s outflow pipe. Follow up investigation revealed that one of the facility’s two aerators was inoperable, and that earlier in November, both of the facility’s aerators had been inoperable for over seven days. This breakdown of the aerators, a result of operator error, was not reported to the Agency as required by the issued discharge permit. The investigation also revealed numerous operation and maintenance violations due to operator error, effluent limit violations, the failure to notify of non-compliance and late submission of monthly reports.
The announcement goes on to state that the town’s chief operator resigned and left Vermont during the course of the investigation. Randolph has since hired a new operator and addressed the maintenance and operational deficiencies identified during the investigation.
U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development has awarded the town $9 million in bond and grant funds to help build the new plant. Last month the town set new, higher sewer rates to cover the USDA RD bond payments on the new plant.
In a special meeting on August 12, the Randolph Select Board hired T. Buck Construction of Auburn, Maine to build the new plant this fall.
