More than a year after agents with the Environmental Protection Agency raided two Dothan wastewater treatment plants, the city continues to fork out thousands of dollars each month in outside legal fees while leaders say there is no way to know when the issue will be resolved.
The EPA executed search warrants at the Beaver Creek and Little Choctawhatchee wastewater treatment plants on the morning of Sept. 23, 2010. It also served a warrant on the city’s Information Technology department, where the city’s computer servers are located.
Dothan Mayor Mike Schmitz said city officials have not had any contact with the EPA since the raid. Schmitz said that while the nature of the raid would indicate the agency believes major violations could have occurred, he still isn’t sure exactly what prompted the raid.
“We could speculate, but I had just rather not do that,” Schmitz said. “We have worked hard on what we think could be the problems and at some point in the next few months, we are going to see if they will sit down and talk to us.”
The City of Dothan faces potential fines for violations related to overflows at the Beaver Creek wastewater treatment plant. The Attorney General’s office filed the original suit against the city, which blocked environmental groups from taking action in court. The Environmental Protection Agency got involved in April 2009, by sending letters of inquiry to the city. Dothan has been attempting to resolve the issue by spending around $40 million on a sewage upgrade project, which includes the expansion of the Little Choctawhatchee wastewater treatment plant to increase sewage capacity from 7 million gallons a day average flow to 12 million gallons, allowing diversion of wastewater from the Beaver Creek Wastewater Treatment.
City Manager Mike West said the Beaver Creek plant has been decommissioned, a major step in trying to solve the overflow issues. But West believes the issues related to the raid have slowed down any potential settlement between the city and EPA.
“Unfortunately, I think one has affected the other. What we are hoping is, through our attorneys, to get the civil part going again,” West said.
The city is paying two outside legal firms to perform EPA-related work.
Dothan spent $274,335 on outside legal fees related to EPA matters in the 2011 fiscal year. Overall, it spent $321,230 on the matter in 2010 and 2011. The city is set to approve another $10,000 payment to the firm of Eldridge and Blakney during Tuesday’s city commission meeting.
“Unfortunately, because of the lawsuit we have, I don’t see any other way to try to resolve this without the use of experts who are in the field,” Schmitz said. “I believe the expertise of these attorneys is really going to make a difference in this settlement (with the EPA). I believe, in the long run, this is going to save us a lot of money.”
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