Promising solution to 20-year-old sewer dispute finally surfaces

One of the Krupski subdivision sewer pumps, located on DCWSA property.

BY KATE HARRISON AND ZACH MCELRATH

Every year, Covenant College spends about $60,000 operating deteriorating sewer lines which carry sewage from the Krupski Loop residential neighborhood, located a few minutes south of the college along Scenic Highway. Covenant is currently working with the city of Lookout Mountain, GA, and Dade County Water and Sewer Authority (DCWSA) on a proposal that would rid the school of this expensive responsibility and resolve a host of problems for the residents of the Krupski subdivision.

Under the current proposal, the city council of Lookout Mountain has agreed that if Covenant and DCWSA can raise enough money to repair the damaged Kruspki subdivision sewer lines and tie them directly into the city’s own sewer infrastructure, then the city will take on ownership and operations of the Krupski sewer lines.

The estimated cost of these repairs is $533,000. As of December 2, $450,000 of that has been raised. Covenant first put forward $150,000 for the effort, and the DCWSA has since pledged $50,000. Another $250,000 has been raised through a combination of state and federal grants, largely due to the efforts of Angela Steedley, a grant writer employed by the college for this purpose.

Residents of the Krupski subdivision have been dealing with sewage problems stemming from the deteriorating lines for over 20 years, but until now, no lasting solution to the issue has ever been solidified.

“For too long everyone has accepted the status quo of this situation,” said Dade County Executive/Chairman Ted Rumley, who has been involved in planning the switchover. “People have got to think about the situation of the people living in the subdivision. The sewer problem is detrimental and unsanitary, and this planned changeover has got to happen now.”

The saga of the Krupski Loop sewer issues is a long and convoluted tale that has often been misconstrued by hearsay. To understand how crucial the success of the present proposal is to both Covenant and the Krupski neighborhood, it is essential to trace the story back to when the troubles started in 1988.

1988-1999

The majority of Lookout Mountain residents still used septic systems in 1988. The only two sewage treatment plants were at Covenant and at the Krupski Loop neighborhood. This neighborhood was originally built to accommodate troops and families stationed at the Flintstone Air Force Base, which until 1962 operated a small radar station formerly located on the present site of Shadowlands.

The clay-pipe sewer lines that run through Krupski Loop were built in the 1950s. The neighborhood required a sewage plant because the house lots were too small for septic tanks. The Air Force Base originally ran the plant. When the base was closed, the ownership of the sewage system was transferred to the Dade County School System, which operated an elementary school on the site until 1984.

After the school closed, the Dade County School system was no longer permitted to run the plant. According to 1988 Dade County Sentinel articles, the school system planned to cease its operations of the treatment plant in December 1988, leaving the residents of Krupski Loop with no way to process their sewage.
To make matters worse, the sewer system and plant had fallen into disrepair at this point.

“Neither the homeowners, Dade County, the Dade County Water Authority, or any private entity wanted to own and operate the facility due to its deteriorated condition and the amount of money that would be required to bring the facility up to proper operating conditions,” wrote Sentinel reporter Jewell Smalley in 1988.

Meanwhile, Covenant was making plans to add the Rayburn and Schmidt wings to Belz Hall. In order to increase the size of the dorm, the college needed to increase the amount of sewage it was allowed to process in their plant. In 1988, Covenant applied to Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division (EPD) for a permit to increase their sewage processing levels. Initially, the EPD refused the request.

Weeks later, the EPD approached the college with a proposition: if Covenant would take over the operation of Krupski Loop’s sewage system, the EPD would grant the college’s permit request.

The deal made sense at the time. Covenant was close to Krupski Loop’s sewage line, and after years of processing their own sewage, they had the expertise to maintain a plant. Though the school was capable of taking on the sewage operations, the line had to be owned by a a public entity.

The EPD tapped the DCWSA to assume ownership of the system. Though its name suggests otherwise, the DCWSA was not equipped at the time to operate a sewage system. The “sewage” part of their title chiefly refers to their role as bill collectors for Trenton’s sewage services.

With a solution to the crisis finally reached, the EPD issued a consent order, which bound Covenant and the DCWSA to work together to perform certain functions. The consent order was signed by all parties.

According to a copy of the consent order reviewed by The Bagpipe, DCWSA was given ownership of the sewer system, and Covenant became obligated to operate the sewage system and the old plant until the new system was completed. However, the order did not flesh out the details of Covenant’s long-term operational responsibilities or the ownership responsibilities of the DCWSA.

Confusion over the agreement’s interpretation has since led to disputes over who is ultimately responsible for problems with the Krupski lines, which continue to deteriorate.
“It is my understanding that at that time, most people saw the agreement as a win-win. But a lot of unforeseen issues crept up soon afterward,” said Covenant’s Facilities Management Associate Director Corey Dupree, who has been involved in the saga for many years.

The problems started in 1989, soon after the consent order was signed.

“No one had a feel for why the old plant was failing, but not long after we started receiving their sewage we saw why,” Dupree said. Sand had already begun to infiltrate the Krupski Loop plant, and when Covenant took over, the sand made its way into Covenant’s system. Meanwhile the terra cotta pipes continued to corrode and the pumps wore down.

1999-2009

In 1999, Covenant tied its system into Lookout Mountain’s new sewer system, and stopped processing its own sewage. The college still operates the Krupski Loop line, although it no longer processes its sewage. Lookout Mountain currently receives Covenant and Krupski Loop’s combined sewage, which is then processed by the Moccasin Bend Sewage Treatment Plant. The college pays Lookout Mountain in terms of gallons per day, an amount which includes Krupski Loop’s sewage. It is unknown how much Krupski Loop’s sewage adds to this total.

With this change of circumstances, the 1988 consent order’s stipulations become even harder to interpret. The order was composed with the understanding that Covenant was, at the time, processing sewage. The agreement did not take into account the possibility of Covenant tying in to another sewer line.

“This was a deal struck during a crisis situation, and we are no longer in the same crisis,” said Dupree.

The current crisis is the system’s corrosion, which includes root infiltration and water infiltration in the pipes. Krupski Loop residents have been increasingly affected by damages caused by the crumbling pipes.

“It has dragged on for decades,” said Selah Cross, who has lived in the neighborhood for 21 years. Cross, whose house has not been affected by the sewer problems, said that the troubles have varied throughout the neighborhood. “We have had plenty of neighborhood meetings about it, and people are divided about how to respond.”

Some residents have claimed that raw sewage has bubbled up with groundswell. Others have reported severe home and property damage due to sewage infiltration. It is not certain whether this damage originated with residents’ private lines or with the main line. Covenant is only responsible for the main line.

Tending to the sewer lines has become a major responsibility for Covenant’s Maintenance and Operations department, headed up by  David Northcutt, Director of Facilities Management, and Mike Nicholson, Supervisor of Maintenance and Operations. Maintenance workers check the pumps along Scenic Highway every day.

Under its role as “operator” of the Krupski sewage link, Covenant has ended up having to fix all problems with pumps, which has often required replacing them. Covenant has spent thousands on repairs, upkeep, enginnering, and new implenmentations in order to maintain and solve various sewage problems ranging from community lines to plant processing problems.

Right now Krupski Loop residents pay $25 per month for sewage service. Dade County collects the bill, and they in turn pay Covenant as contractor. The monthly fees amount to about $9,400 a year for the college, yet the sum does not cover an eighth of the year’s worth of what Covenant spends on sewer maintenance. Dupree estimates that Covenant spends at least $60,000 a year on the line’s operational costs.

These expenses drain money from other college operations, with both tuition dollars and gifts funneling into the upkeep of a sewer system not owned by Covenant.

“Sooner or later, all of the college’s funds are related. In my mind, any dollar here should be mission and purpose focused,” said Vice President of Advancement Troy Duble. “Running a sewer system isn’t part of our mission and purpose, is it? But the College signed an agreement a long time ago, and we need to honor that, especially since we are called to love our neighbors.”

Ultimately, the entire system needs to be replaced, though the parties have long disagreed about whose responsibility this is. Since Covenant is not owner of the system, it claims it is not responsible to replace the line. Yet DCWSA also claims that since it has had nothing to do with the sewer’s upkeep, it is not responsible to replace the system either. Once again, the 1988 consent order has failed to guide the parties during the present debacle.

“It was a poorly written agreement because no one was able to look twenty years down the road,” Duble said.

The situation is an anomaly, according to the EPD, who says they have never seen the stipulations of a consent order govern an agreement for 20 years. Yet the EPD has effectively created a catch-22 for the parties by refusing to cancel or clarify the original consent order until Covenant and DCWSA come to an agreement.

Proposals for city expansion in Lookout Mountain have brought the sewer dispute to a head. The city has also seen significantly above-average rainfall this fall, which has resulted in sewer lines flooding all over the mountain.

2009-FUTURE

Earlier this year, a promising solution began to materialize. With problems worsening, Duble began discussions with the city of Lookout Mountain about its interest in taking over ownership of the Krupski sewer system. The city has a stake in resolving problems with the Krupski system because ultimately, they impact the city’s own systems.

During these discussions, the city of Lookout Mountain agreed that if enough money could be raised to repair the Krupski subdivision’s sewer lines, then the city would assume legal ownership of the Krupski lines. They would then take on the responsibilities of providing water and sewage services to the residents of the subdivision and operating and maintaining the sewer lines.

Under this plan, residents of the Krupski subdivision will pay exactly the same price for water and sewer service as residents of Lookout Mountain, Ga.

Through the city of Lookout Mountain’s relationship with the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), grant-writer Steedley discovered that the city qualified for a federal grant, and along with Mayor Gifford submitted a grant proposal that resulted in $200,000 being awarded to the city to complete the project. The ARC also supplied the city with a $50,000 “imminent threat danger grant” because of the imminent hazards that the failing sewer system presents to residents.

That leaves $83,000 remaining before the project can get underway.

On November 12, Gifford told The Bagpipe that the city is in the process of applying for an another grant from the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority to obtain the remaining funds. If the city is awarded this additional grant money, Gifford believes it should be received by December.

Preliminary plans for the system have already been approved by the Lookout Mountain City Council, according to Gifford.

“The Council has already officially approved everything contingent on the funding,” said Gifford. “All the legal documents are taken care of.”

All parties involved are trying to focus on the way forward and avoid dredging up old disputes, said Duble.

“It is so close to happening,” said Rumley. “We’re going to keep a fire under it. We don’t want to see the project lose momentum.”

If the proposal is implemented, Covenant will no longer be responsible for any Krupski Loop sewer problems, and residents of the subdivision will no longer have to wonder who to call in the event of sewer issues.

“This way forward solves the problem for everyone,” said Dupree.

Dan Earl, who moved to Krupski Loop in 2001, said many of the neighbors are ready to move on. “It’s been an unfortunate situation, but the past is past. We want to see it resolved, and it looks like it’s finally going to be.”