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Officials say landfill‑of‑rags and capacity limits fuel Lamar sewage overflows; plant expansion aims to fix problem
Summary
Public works staff told council rags, grease and inflow/infiltration are charging the wastewater plant (rated 3 MGD) and producing SSOs during storms; staff described short‑term mitigation (bypass pumps, deragging) and argued rehab and wastewater‑treatment plant expansion are the only lasting fixes; Industrial TX reported the expansion is 51% complete but equipment delays and a Jan. 31, 2027 grant deadline create schedule risk.
Public works staff and the plant contractor told the Lamar City Council on June 22 that recurring sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs) stem from chronic inflow and infiltration, grease and accumulated rags that have reduced wet‑well capacity and overloaded a treatment plant rated at 3 million gallons per day (MGD) during rain events.
Public Works Director Shannon Bro said field crews have found wet wells with roughly four feet of rags and debris at the bottom, which restrict inflow and leave the system "charged" before storms. Bro said the plant sees 5–9 million gallons on a heavy rain day and recounted earlier single‑day peaks as high as 15 million gallons. He identified grease blockages, root intrusions, damaged lines, illegal connections and older manhole designs as contributors to INI (inflow and infiltration).
Bro described short‑term mitigations—two bypass pumps, proactive deragging of pumps and pre‑storm pump testing—but said the long‑term solution is both thorough rehabilitation of existing plant infrastructure (cleaning wet wells, replacing manholes and pipe rehab) and completing the planned wastewater treatment plant expansion. He warned that simply adding more bypass pumps during events risks “washing out” treatment biology and could make compliance problems worse.
Industrial TX, the plant contractor, reported the single‑batch reactor expansion is about 51% complete, with major structure work finishing ahead of schedule. The contractor said critical treatment equipment is delayed by procurement issues (some equipment due Sept. 1) and noted the General Land Office grant imposes a hard deadline of Jan. 31, 2027, which staff and contractor said they will ask the GLO to consider in a request for consideration because utility and equipment delays were outside the city’s control.
Council pressed staff on specifics—line diameters, pump types, timelines for wet‑well cleaning and the cost and availability of grinder/bar‑screen technology. Shannon said a new, tighter bar screen is part of the expansion and that wet‑well cleaning and rehab work is scheduled to begin with contractors within weeks; the rehab of the existing plant and full expansion will take longer. Staff also said lift station procurement delays reduced the number of lift stations that can be completed under the grant from nine to six and that the six are scheduled to start next month.
Council approved several project change orders and a contract scope revision tied to the lift‑station and citywide sanitary‑sewer rehabilitation projects during the same meeting; staff said the funding for specific repairs is available and recommended timely repairs to avoid larger failures and further discharge to stormwater.
No litigation was raised in the presentation; councilors asked for a detailed timeline and documentation of when design changes and major decisions were presented to council.
