B.G. Planning Sewage Plant

By Laura McVicker, The Columbian, Vancouver, Wash.

Jul. 19–BATTLE GROUND — At a time of general economic downturn, this city is planning for growth.

After decades of relying on the Clark Regional Wastewater District, Battle Ground plans to build its own sewage treatment plant and will request more room for waste at the district’s Salmon Creek plant, which handles sewage from Battle Ground and most of the unincorporated area north of Vancouver.

These plans would bring Battle Ground’s sewer capacity to a rate that supports 24,000 people. The city of 16,710 expects to reach that population within the next several years, however seemingly slow in coming.

“When our plans were put together, that was going to happen in 2011,” said Rob Charles, the city’s public works director. “Now I think it’s 2013 or beyond.”

Sewer service either staggers or propels a city’s growth. And Battle Ground wants to grow.

“It’s proactive planning,” City Manager Dennis Osborn said. Without acting, “Eventually, we would deal with a moratorium.”

Several years ago, Battle Ground officials started the brainstorming process to increase sewer capacity. To prepare for growth over a 20-year period, officials figured they would need to pay for larger pipes and lift stations at the Clark Regional Wastewater District’s plant and would need more gallons allocated to the city per day. But, they realized, if they relied strictly on that scenario, it would cost $55 million, Osborn said.

Instead, building the Battle Ground facility will cost $50 million, and that amount includes a $15 million expansion in 2019 for more expected growth.

The process of expansion has already begun. Battle Ground’s sewage intake quota at the Clark Regional Wastewater District has been boosted from 1.97 million gallons per day to 3.47 million gallons.

Construction of the new treatment plant off Grace Avenue, which would handle roughly 3.5 million gallons of sewage, is slated to begin in 2012.

Funding plan needed

City officials have yet to come up with a way to pay for the Battle Ground facility, so they’ve hatched a citizens advisory committee to develop ideas. Much of the committee’s role will be recommending how much to increase monthly sewer rates and sewer installation charges to pay for the new facility, Charles said.

Whatever the funding plans, officials believe the outline for the project is the most economically viable. Instead of discharging sewage into a lake or stream, the Battle Ground facility will use a new technology that purifies water and sends it to underground pipes that will travel to Salmon Creek at the Cedars Golf Course, said John Peterson, Clark Regional Wastewater District’s interim manager.

This means the water will improve fish habitat in Salmon Creek, and can also be used for irrigation, wetlands enhancement, or certain other commercial and industrial uses.

“We think it’s one of the more exciting things going on in wastewater of Clark County,” Peterson said of the new underground process.

LAURA McVICKER can be reached at 360-735-4516 or laura.mcvicker@columbian.com.

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Copyright (c) 2008, The Columbian, Vancouver, Wash.

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