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Columbia Falls staff warns wastewater treatment allocation approaching limit; recommends planning limits and phased approvals
Summary
City manager told the council the wastewater plant is near its nutrient-allocation limit (staff uses an engineering baseline of 1,894 people) and recommended allocating up to 95% of capacity, phasing large annexations and considering a temporary moratorium on large new developments until a fall restudy.
City Manager Eric Mulcahy told the Columbia Falls City Council that the city's wastewater treatment plant is nearing its allocated nutrient-removal capacity under Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) permits and urged a cautious approach to new large developments.
Mulcahy said staff and engineering models use a working baseline of 1,894 people — a model-derived, approximate figure approved in the city's 2023 engineering design — and that the city is approaching 100% of its permitted allocation for nutrient removal, not hydraulic flow. "Because we're approaching a 100% capacity allocation, that is not a it's a risk of regulatory noncompliance," Mulcahy said, distinguishing the regulatory limit from the plant's hydraulic capability. He added the facility can hydraulically handle significantly higher volumes but must meet concentration-based permit limits.
The manager explained…
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