DEQ, Junction City outline compliance schedule: new mechanical wastewater plant, inflow fixes required

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality on Tuesday told the Junction City Council that the city must upgrade its wastewater system under a new 40‑page permit and an associated Mutual Agreement and Order (MAO) that together set a multi‑phase compliance schedule.

DEQ Western Region wastewater permitting and compliance manager Renee Nomura said DEQ and the city have been discussing the plant upgrade since 1995 and that the new permit “is 40 pages long.” She told council the city’s wastewater lagoon cannot meet recently tightened ammonia and other limits and that a mechanical treatment plant is now effectively required.

The issue matters because Junction City is on the EPA’s significant noncompliance list for wastewater, DEQ officials said, and the MAO ties permit milestones to the number of connections the city may allow while work proceeds. Nomura said the MAO allows a total of 380 equivalent dwelling units (EDUs) tied to specific MAO tasks — 310 EDUs associated with required steps plus 70 optional EDUs that can be earned by completing additional actions.

DEQ and city staff outlined what the upgrade will include and why. City engineer Rod Henry described a two‑phase approach: build a new mechanical treatment plant capable of removing…