June 29, 2022 |
The Encampment Town Council will meet in special session Thursday evening to choose a winning contractor bid for the town’s lagoon improvement project.
Town Clerk Doreen Harvey sent out the special meeting agenda on Tuesday.
According to the application for a SLIB grant to help fund the work, the proposed project includes improvements to the headworks, outlet works, and lagoon cells in order to comply with state water quality requirements not being met currently.
According to the application, periodic discharge permit limits for B.O.D. and pH are frequently out of compliance due to inadequate treatment. B.O.D. is the amount of dissolved oxygen needed by aerobic biological organisms to break down organic material present in water.
North Fork Engineering of Saratoga is working as the engineering consultant for the project. North Fork Engineering owner Jon Nelson said the two phase project is designed to improve the mechanical treatment and discharge of effluent at the two-cell lagoon.
Pictured above: File photo of Encampment Town Hall. Photo by Bigfoot 99.
The two-cell facility uses surface aeration in the first cell and UV disinfection as final treatment prior to effluent discharge. The surface area of cell #1 is approx. 1.37 acres with an average design depth of 10 feet. Cell #2 has a surface area of approx. 3.19 acres and averages 6-feet in depth.
The work is being undertaken in anticipation of the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality tightening its enforcement of effluent limits. Right now the town does not have a way to accurately measure and report for Ammonia, Dissolved Oxygen, Nitrate/Nitrite, pH levels and other criteria in the operation of the system. The wastewater discharges to Badger Creek, a tributary to Encampment River in the North Platte River Basin.
Nelson declined to answer a question about what the budget for the Phase 1 improvements is.
Nelson said the plan is to have tomorrow night’s winning contractor begin the work on Phase 1 in August with “substantial completion” slated for the first week of November. The second phase of the project might not begin until the end of 2023 at the earliest, and perhaps 2024, so that town can collect a year of accurate measurements to inform the design of Phase 2. The Town of Encampment has a population of 450, consisting of 227 households and 363 sewer services.
Tomorrow night’s special meeting is set for 7 p.m. at the Encampment Town Hall Council Chambers.
