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District outlines three-year wastewater plan after DEQ meeting, favors LEMNA upgrade
Summary
District staff and its engineer told the board the state (DEQ) will proceed with public notice for a permit modification that suspends near-term phosphorus and ammonia limits under milestones; the board’s preferred LEMNA biological upgrade is the critical path while a groundwater-discharge option remains a parallel track requiring long-term sampling and test wells.
At the Aug. 19 board meeting, Stansbury Park Improvement District staff and the district’s engineer described a multi-year plan to address phosphorus and ammonia permit limits, saying the state will publish public notice before approving a permit modification. "They had to go through public notice," engineer Bridal Thorpe said of DEQ's process after an Aug. 1 meeting; the modification will incorporate milestones and a schedule the district must meet during the extension period.
Thorpe described two parallel critical paths: proceeding with the board’s preferred LEMNA (biological) system upgrade and pursuing a groundwater-discharge option that would require drilling test wells and at least 12 months of baseline groundwater sampling. "There are 2 critical paths," Thorpe said, and the LEMNA option includes headworks upgrades, a polishing reactor for nitrification and phosphorus removal, additional disinfection contact chambers and tanks. The district aims to finalize an interlocal agreement with the neighboring public entity (discussed in meeting as 'OPID'/'Open') by the October board meeting, complete an alternatives analysis by Nov. 1, submit for SRF consideration next May and begin construction in the second year of a roughly three-year timeline to being online.
Thorpe warned that groundwater discharge would be a longer, more uncertain route: drilling three test wells, conducting at least a year of sampling, and then reporting and review could stretch the parallel path to 18–24 months before any construction decision. The engineer also said a sovereign-lands lease option was unlikely after the state declined a fencing request. District manager Brett Palmer said the goal is to create an impact-fee facilities plan, perform an impact-fee/rate analysis, complete design and seek state low-interest (SRF) funding to reduce local borrowing costs.
