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South Suburban presents assessment warning Gilchrist sewer system is failing; state loans in default
Summary
South Suburban Sanitary District presented a 60-page assessment to Klamath County commissioners detailing chronic sanitary sewer overflows, terracotta collection lines in Gilchrist, pump and lift-station failures and administrative gaps; presenters warned state agencies have issued loan default notices and state intervention may follow.
Klamath County commissioners heard a detailed assessment from South Suburban Sanitary District on Dec. 10 that described widespread infrastructure and operational failures in the Crescent Sanitary District, with the Gilchrist collection system singled out as an urgent compliance risk.
"The number one concern is the Gilchrist collection system," Dan Scouse of Atkins Engineering said, citing multiple sanitary sewer overflows and non‑industry-standard mains made from terracotta and clay. Joe Spangolini, chair of the South Suburban Sanitary District Board of Directors, told the board the district’s experts spent a day onsite and produced a 60‑page report outlining five to six priority failures that require immediate attention.
The presenters described pump and lift‑station problems that have caused frequent outages, including generators that do not automatically start during power losses and pumps that have experienced high burnout rates. Spangolini said the causes appear to include potential design flaws and generator and motor phase issues, and that some fixes will require new equipment.
South Suburban also reported administrative and staffing shortages in Crescent Sanitary District. The presenters said the district recently lost administrative staff and faces challenges retaining maintenance and board members, which complicates operations and regulatory compliance. "The Crescent Sanitary District is in crisis," the county’s presiding commissioner said after the presentation, thanking the visiting experts for producing the report.
Commissioners were told the civil division of the state Department of Justice has sent notices of default and that the district is in default on loans from the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and Business Oregon. "They are in default on both of their loans," one presenter said, and added the Gilchrist collection lines date to the 1930s and are deteriorating.
County commissioners thanked South Suburban staff and volunteers for the assessment and acknowledged the likelihood the state will need to step in. No formal motion or county funding decision was made at the meeting; commissioners said they will monitor state and district actions and follow up as necessary.
Next steps: commissioners requested additional follow‑up and noted they expect state agencies to be involved in remediation planning. The board did not vote on county funding at the Dec. 10 meeting.
