Several months ago, Ashby Foote took a walk with a resident in the Country Club of Jackson area to view the West Bank Interceptor, which is the backbone of the city’s sewer system.
“The West Bank Interceptor takes sewage from above Jackson to the Savanna Street treatment center,” said Foote, who represents Ward One on the Jackson City Council.
“If you have a heavy rain and get stormwater that infiltrates the sewer system you can have overflow and it can smell really nasty.”
Problems with the interceptor have plagued the area for years and it will result in sewage backing up on the country club’s golf course. This happened in 2022 when the city authorized Hemphill Construction Co. at a cost of $78,206 to pump sewage from low-lying areas of the golf course, remove dead fish from bodies of water within the golf course levee, remove sewage residue from the fairways and surrounding areas and spread lime over the affected areas, all in preparation for the PGA Tour’s Sanderson Farms Championship.
The federal order that puts the city of Jackson sewer system under the administration of third-party administrator Ted Henifin, who also manages the city’s drinking water system, includes a sewer priority project list.
The complete cleaning and rehabilitation of the West Bank Interceptor, the city’s principal sewer line that extends on the west bank of the Pearl River from the Madison-Hinds county line to the Savanna Street Wastewater Treatment Facility at 3810 I-55 S. Frontage Road, is on the priority list.
The repair will address the low manhole that is believed to be a major contributing source of inflow when the river stage is higher than 26 feet, according to the order.
Repairs will also address any needed grouting work of the interceptor and manholes in the Country Club area and identify additional major river water inflow locations and defects causing significant volumes during a river stage higher than 26 feet.
The priority list of projects also includes the:
- Repair and the use of closed-circuit television video sewer inspection for the rehab and/or replacement of 215 emergency sewer failures. The list of emergency sewer failures includes these in north and northeast Jackson: St. Ann Drive/Laurel Street, Avondale Street, Redbud Road, Eagle Avenue, Colonial Circle, Cherokee Drive, Riverwood Drive, North State Street, Pear Orchard Place, Downing Street/Mitchell Street, Robin Drive, Winter View Drive, St. Andrews Drive, Meadow Heights Drive/Meadowhill Drive, Cherry Hills Drive, Dogwood Drive, Casablanca Drive, I-55 North Frontage Road, Briarfield Road, Robinhood Road, Ridgewood Road, Peachtree Street, Old Canton Road, Crestwood Place, Lorenz Boulevard, Brookdale Street, Cedarhurst Road, Chatham Circle, Raintree Place, Morningside Street, Old Canton Road, Melwood Place, Heritage Hill Drive, Katherine Boulevard, East Northside Drive, Mitchell Avenue, Crestview Avenue, Forest Park Drive, St. Ann Street, Naples Road, Greymont Avenue, Bellevue Place and North Jefferson, Woodmont Drive, Cedars of Lebanon, Quinn Street, Lyncrest Avenue, St. Mary Street, Council Circle, Clubview Drive and Fairfax Circle.
Rehab of the sewers in the Queens area in west Jackson.
- Establishment of a contract for annual sewer cleaning and closed-circuit television video sewer inspection of 100 miles of sewer per year.
- Establishment of a contract for the annual investigation of sewer issues coming from the 2,200 service request locations and coordinate cleaning and closed-circuit television video sewer inspection with the annual sewer cleaning and closed-circuit television contract.
- Re-routing the sewer line underneath the railroad yard near Mill Street that has collapsed under the tracks.
- Replacing a major pump and a 54-inch line and installing needed new equipment at the Savanna Wastewater Treatment Plant. Three lagoon cells are also to be cleaned.
- Conducting a comprehensive performance evaluation and composite correction program for the Trahon Wastewater Treatment Plant. Immediate repairs as needed to maintain operations are to be made.
The estimated cost for the projects is $130 million. To partially pay for it all, $125 million has been authorized for the U.S Army Corps of Engineers to design and construct improvements to the sewer system and water system under the Water Resources Development Act.
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