$8 million eastern sewer project approved

A controversial sewer project for ­eastern Union County got new life Feb. 1 after county commissioners approved an $8 million amended proposal to improve the sewer systems in Wingate, Marshville and nearby unincorporated areas.

Facing possible North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources fines, county staff submitted the project to increase the size of sewer pipes for approval in January. The ­county’s eastern side often has sewer spills because existing pipes only can ­handle 1.9 ­million gallons per day, while use balloons to more than 2.5 million gallons per day when rainwater seeps in. Environment and Natural Resources ordered the problem be fixed or the county would be fined more than $25,000 daily.

However, western Union County ­mayors and council members questioned whether the project actually will fix the problem, suggesting patching the leaks for far less money. The larger pipes would be useful on the county’s western side, ­Stallings, Indian Trail and Unionville officials in particular argue, where stalled sewer projects already are waiting for capacity.

Some commissioners agreed that the project alone wouldn’t solve the problem. “It’s a very expensive Band-Aid and it’s imperative that the two municipalities fix their problems, not only as a health concern, but also to allow new ­business capacity to occur,” Board of County Commissioners Chairwoman Kim Rogers said.

The approved plan, which was amended to be done in two phases, will meet Environment and Resources’ requirements, avoiding fines, according to Union County Public Works Director Ed Goscicki. The first phase is a two-mile stretch east of Monroe to Wingate, and the second is three miles of pipe between Wingate and Marshville.

“These have been long-standing issues, as the pipes have been just packed,” ­Commissioner Allan Baucom said. “This is going to help eliminate the violations and provide some extra capacity.”

Union County contracts with Monroe to provide an average 2.65 million gallons per day to that area, Goscicki said. The new project will allow 2.6 million gallons to come through daily, allowing space for rainwater and freeing up additional capacity.

Towns tackle wastewater issues

Wingate and Marshville, meanwhile, aren’t waiting for the county to start construction, using grants to do their own repair work. In Wingate, the town is implementing a $2.3 million project to repair 30 percent of its sewer system. Town administrator Dryw Blanchard said work crews will stretch a putty-like liner through the pipes, which seals cracks and leaks, plugs holes and hopefully increases the system’s efficiency.

“We would like to have a downtown, we would like to develop business here, but we can’t do that if there are problems in the sewer pipes,” Blanchard said.

Marshville has proceeded, too, spending a $500,000 grant from the state’s Rural Center to install the pipe liner. Some of Marshville’s 4,900 square feet of hardened-clay pipes, similar to a clay flowerpot, date to 1923 when the sewer system was activated, according to town administrator John Munn. He said that despite pipes’ vulnerability to roots and rainwater, he doesn’t think the problem is that severe.

“Every sewer system has an increase when you have heavy rains,” Munn said, adding that the town applied for the grant months ago.

Union County received a $2 million grant from the Environmental Protection Agency that will help pay for the county project. Staff was authorized to spend up to $4.35 million in additional funds. Goscicki said the project could be bid and built within 18 months.