1975-01-20 Regular Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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' be a detrimental effect on the bay. The solution to this problem, should it arise, will be to perform tertiary treatment or a reclamation system at that time. There is adequate land area for such a facility at the pro- posed site. On the plus side, taking the proposed action eliminates one 'discharge from the Clear Lake watershed and eliminates raw sewage bypassing caused by excessive infiltration/inflow. The justification for taking this action now rather than considering any long term alternative, including no action, is seen to be that the problems requiring a solution, now exist and must be solved soon. Also the proposed action is the most cost effective means of handling the situation. That is, diversion of effluent from the Fairmont Park plant accomplishes the dual purpose of removing a below par discharge from the Clear Lake watershed as well as eliminating one trea t ment plant, thus regionalizing La Porte's system. Section VI Irreversible and Irretrievable Commitments of Resources Which Would be Solved in the Proposed Action, Should it be Implemented As stated in Section V the quality of the discharge from the proposed facility meets present standards for effluents entering recreational bodies of water. This quality is not, however, as good as is found naturally existing in such waters and to that extent the proposed action will damage the environment. The burying of pipe that is required will not cause any permanent change in the environment. The construction of the expanded treatment plant wi]1 cover a small land area as previously described. The irreversible process occurring during construction will • be the use of energy sources such as gasoline and diesel fuel by machinery. Other resources made irretrievable by the construction of the proposed facility are represented by the building materials; cement, steel and related items. The~only continuing use of a resource after construction will be the expending of electrical energy by electric motor driven equipment and by lighting and the use of certain chemicals such as chlorine and possibly. flocculating agents during the operating life of the facility. It is not conceivable that an environmental accident of any magnitude could occur in connection with this project either during construction or later during operation. Overall it is not believed that the proposed action will significantly curtail the diversity and range of beneficial uses of the environment. Neither is it seen as causing any significant irretrievable commitment of resources. The benefits to be derived from this proposed action so heavily outweigh the minor adverse effects that implementation is fully justified.