Raw untreated sewage has been running into Lake Taneycomo about five miles upstream from the city of Branson’s drinking water intake for months. The source of the sewage is an area of homes and businesses located off of Montgomery Drive. Montgomery Drive is located in Taney County outside the city limits of Branson and loops from the east side of State Highway 165 in the Skyview Drive area by Doc’s Sports Bar. Although located miles upstream from the city’s drinking water intake and outside the city limits of Branson, Branson Public Works Director Larry VanGilder said that any source of pollution to Lake Taneycomo above the water intake is of concern and must be addressed as soon as possible.
A meeting involving local officials, representatives of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the state Attorney General’s Office (AGO) was held at the Dewey Short Visitor’s Center on August 21. It became apparent there have been other incidents involving the Montgomery sewage, DNR has been aware of the current Montgomery situation since November of 2007, the AOG has filed a law suit regarding the Montgomery pollution, and, even while the meeting was taking place, there was the ongoing threat of untreated sewage continuing to pollute Lake Taneycomo.
While local officials all acknowledged the urgency and ongoing nature of the problem and expressed a willingness to work together to solve it as quickly as possible, it was obvious it would take some time to develop a plan and determine who would pay for what. Meanwhile, the pollution threat to Lake Taneycomo continued unabated.
After the meeting, three of the men present at the meeting Fred Stewart, Drain Doctor of SW Missouri, Inc., Tim Smith, S & S Pumping Service, and Ted Wilczynski, TCM Environmental Inc., realized the financial process, constraints and other procedures governmental entities must abide by would delay an immediate solution to the problem. Wilczynski said the sewage on the ground, the health threat to those living in the area, along with the continuing threat of pollution to Lake Taneycomo led them to decide to voluntarily take a proactive approach, at their own cost, to mitigate and temporarily control the Montgomery sewage situation.
After coordinating with local officials, the three men with work crews and equipment commenced work on the Montgomery site the morning of August 22. Stewart said a major part of the problem was the sewage was never getting to the treatment plant because of sagging and blockage problems on the main line. This caused raw untreated sewage to bubble up through the cleanouts, and literally go down along the ground and into the water way.”
Stewart said Drain Doctor had cleaned the blockage out of the main line, made some minor repairs, and added caps to the cleanouts and the repairs should be adequate to get the sewage to the treatment plant on a temporary basis while a long term solution is being worked out.
Simultaneously, Smith and the personnel of S & S Pumping Service were pumping the overflow sewage already on the ground into their tank trucks and treating the area to help mitigate the effects of the pollution. The treatment plant is another matter however.
The temporary fix is to get it into a condition where, at a minimum, the sewage from the main line into the plant will flow through the plant into holding tanks which will be pumped out about every two days into a tank truck which will then pump it down a manhole into the city of Branson’s sewer system for processing. Stewart said, subject to evaluation by Wilczynski there is a slim possibility that the plant could be brought on line on a temporary basis. Repair work on the plant had not gotten to the point where Wilczynski could make that determination.
On the afternoon of August 22, Taney County Commissioner, Chuck Pennell commended the three companies for their effort in mitigating the current pollution emergency and said the probable long term solution is to pump the Montgomery sewage up into the city of Branson’s sewer system. He said Great River Engineering is already studying and working on plans to resolve the situation and a final decision and financing will be discussed at a later date based on their recommendations.
VanGilder expressed the willingness of the city of Branson to help resolve the situation as quickly and efficiently as possible and has given temporary approval for the pumping of the Montgomery sewage into the City of Branson’s system. Both Pennell and VanGilder acknowledged any permanent solution involving the Montgomery sewage going into the city of Branson’s sewer system would more than likely involve an intergovernmental agreement between the two entities.
Reprinted with permission of the Tri-Lakes Tribune, a free newspaper published and distributed three times weekly, Sunday, Wednesday and Friday. Please call 417-336-NEWS (6397) for classified and display advertising opportunities.
