1975-01-20 Regular Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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• • land. There is no existing beneficial use to humans that will be eliminated. Some flora and fauna will be displaced, but there are no rare or endangered species involved. The change in the present character of the area will only be changed at the construction site where new ~ above ground structures for the treatment plant are to be built. The rights-of-way where sewer lines are to be installed will show no long term changes. The area where the structures are to be built offer no particular natural view, however that which does exist will be obstructed to some degree by the treatment plant facilities. These will not rise at any point more than 15 feet above the ground. The structures that will be built above ground for this project will be concrete and low profile so that they will blend with the environment. The treatment plant will be fenced for safety purposes and shrubbery planting will be used along the fence for landscaping. Inside the fence the area will be maintained turf. As has been previously mentioned the site for the proposed treatment plant is adjacent to the existing plant and is remote from any residences or businesses. The prevailing wind from the southeast moves across the plant and then over undeveloped acreage for several miles. Because of this remoteness and the type of treatment process to be used, contact stabiliza- tion, with aerobic digestion, which produces little to no odor, there will be no odor problem for parks, residences, businesses, highways or other public access areas. Incineration will not be used in connection with this project. As is true with any treatment plant there is always a potential odor problem should the plant get upset or if it is improperly operated and poorly maintained. These possibilities will be minimized as much as possible by good engineer- . ing design and proper training of operators plus careful supervision of the operation by qualified city personnel. The Fairmont Park Treatment Pant, which is to be abandoned, does not meet the criteria for Texas Water Quality Board Order 69-9A. This Board Order concerns water quality in the Clear Lake Watershed. The main La Porte plant discharges to Galveston Bay and at this time there is no basin or areawide plan for that body of water. Diversion of the Fairmont Park effluent is an acceptable solution to the problem of meeting the Board Order 69-9A. The proposed quality of effluent from the expanded La Porte plant is the same as the waste control order parameters for the existing plant. This project, by eliminating the Fairmont Park discharge to the Clear Lake Watershed, will improve the quality of water in that area by the proportion of that effluent to the total discharged by all entities. This is probably a very insignificant amount since there is a very large volume of effluent discharged into the watershed. The proposed quality of the expanded plant effluent meets the requirements set forth in a recently completed study of Houston Ship Channel Waste Loading. In view of this, the effects of the proposed discharge on Galveston Bay water quality will be nil. It is not anticipated that this proposed effluent will have either adverse or benefi- cial effect on aquatic biota. Since the discharge traverses several hundred feet before reaching Galveston Bay, there will be very little chlorine residual at that point and should not have any effect on aquatic life. For this reason dechlorination is not being considered in the project. The discharge from this project will have no effects on municipal and .industrial water supplies since none are drawn from the receiving waters..