Council looks for solutions on wastewater

New Hampton has received a letter on inquiry from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources citing “failure to meet effluent limits.”Discharge monitoring reports from the wastewater treatment plant showed it exceeded ammonia effluent limits contained in its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. In addition, “numerous industrial user violations” were observed, said a letter from DNR Environmental Specialist Senior Amber Sauser, which Mayor Deb Larsen received on Feb. 11.A city ordinance assembled in 2002 mirrored sewage haul-in rates from Charles City and Decorah, which both were charging 3 cents a gallon. With the rates, a $150 permit charge was instituted “to cover lavatory testing,” Wastewater Superintendent Tim Angell said, but officials “had no idea there was going to be as much testing needed.”After receiving the letter, Angell asked Fox Engineering to assemble calculations on cost per gallon: “At 3 cents it doesn’t pay for itself.”— For more on this story, see the Feb. 22 New Hampton Tribune.