The agreement between the city of Jackson and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to fix the city’s ailing water treatment system will represent one of the biggest infrastructure projects in the city’s history.
The price tag, known as an administrative compliance order on consent, will be $170 million, with $70 million to be spent performing upgrades to the city’s two water treatment plants. The remaining $100 million will be spent fixing the city’s dilapidated distribution system, which is subject to constant breaks and of which the EPA’s inspection said might be losing 40 percent to 50 percent of its water.
The city will have until September 30 to submit a timeline to the EPA on how officials intend to correct the discrepancies of both the administrative order issued last February and the 2016 order about the corrosion standard. Before that, the city and the EPA will have a review period for comments by both sides on how to carry out the agreement.
Key points in the plan include:
Filling crucial vacancies at the O.B. Curtis treatment plant; Upgrades and repairs to both treatment plants to restore them to full working order; and repairs and upgrades to the city’s groundwater storage tanks, wells and well houses that serve south Jackson.
One of the requirements is hiring an instrument technician and two new operators for the O.B. Curtis treatment plant by September 28. Also, the two operators will have to obtain their Class A certification by January 30, 2022. Both positions are critical since instrumentation technicians service the instruments that control the filtration process while operators control and monitor the treatment process, take samples and perform adjustments if required.
The city has advertised for three openings for operators, with two of those vacancies still open since April 2019 and the other since August 5, 2020.
The city council is preparing to increase the salaries offered to both positions. Jackson Public Works Director Dr. Charles Williams Jr. wants the pay for qualified operators be increased to $48,000 annually, a huge increase from the present $12.72 per hour, which adds up to $26,457 without overtime with a 40-hour work week.
The instrumentation positions only pay $13.64 per hour and the employee must establish residence in the city limits. One instrumentation position has been open since April 13, 2018 and the other since March 10. According to Glassdoor.com, the average salary nationally for an instrumentation technician is $68,024. Assuming a 40-hour work week and not including overtime, Jackson pays less than half of that at $28,371.
Both treatment plants will receive major overhauls. The Clari-Trac systems —which removes solid material from the water deposited by sedimentation — at both treatment plants will have to be fully operational within six months (Fewell) and seven months (O.B. Curtis). The city says the Clari-Trac system at J.H Fewell is fully operational, but the one at O.B. Curtis, which has been off-line since 2017 according to the EPA inspection, will still have to be brought back into operational status.
The repair and replacement of the membrane trains (there are six at O.B. Curtis) is also part of the plan, with a deadline of August 29 for the city a detailed scope of work on how it intends to repair them. Williams told the City Council that replacement of each membrane and providing a cover for them (now they’re open to the elements) will cost $1 million per train. The city will have two of the membranes repaired and operational by December 1.
The city will also have to repair the roof of the intake structure located on the Ross Barnett Reservoir by August 29 that feeds into O.B. Curtis. The newer of the two treatment plants will have to have its soda ash system (which helps eliminate chemicals from leeching lead into pipes) and measuring equipment fully operational by August 30, rehabilitation of the plant’s filters within 60 days and the sludge handling facility within five months.
At J.H. Fewell, the ultraviolet light sensors and reactors will have to be fully operational within six months, along with the flow measuring devices and other monitoring equipment. The city will have 30 days to conduct a corrosion control report for the entire plant and repair the pedestrian bridge to the intake structure within six months.
The city will also have to document by July 30 that the storage tank on Maddox Road is fully functional and bring the TV Road booster station back into operational status by six months. There would be a deadline of 60 days to submit a plan to repair the city’s well system and well houses, which has had issues with the pumps since March. These serve the south Jackson area along with the city of Byram.
The order came in the wake of a February 2020 inspection by EPA and state Department of Health officials that found serious discrepancies with federal clean drinking water mandates. After the inspection, the EPA followed with an order to the city on March 27, 2020, which says it is a final agency action and commands the city to make changes to its water system.
The water system has also battled a February ice storm that shut down water service to much of the city, a scenario predicted by a 2019 inspection report by the MSDH.
On April 30, an electrical fire at the O.B. Curtis plant shut down its treatment trains and the city had to issue a boil water notice citywide that wasn't lifted until May 3.
