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Greg Passmore is Operator in Charge at the Town of Bryson City sewer plant.
Editor's note: This article is the second in a series spotlighting the Town of Bryson City employees who operate and maintain the town services for water, sewer and sanitation.
Hannah Styles
hstyles@thesmokymountaintimes.com
Sewage is something most people don’t discuss or think about on a regular basis, but if something goes wrong with your sewer system it can wreak havoc on your home, as well as just plain reek!
Greg Passmore has been operating the town of Bryson City’s sewer plant for about 15 years and is the operator in responsible charge (ORC). Before working at the plant, Passmore worked in textiles for 20 years before making his way to Bryson City, where he met his beloved wife Karla, who also works for the town.
“I like my job, it’s always something different,” he said.
At the water plant the goal is to kill all the “bugs,” but at the sewer plant it’s the opposite.
“We just have to keep the bugs happy,” Passmore said.
Bryson City has a main pump station across the river from another pump station, he explained.
“The sewage is treated with chlorine and de-chlor before it can go into the river,” Passmore said.
The plant oversees keeping everything environmentally safe and is regularly inspected.
Passmore said summer is the hardest time to run the plant because in the summer there are about 50/50 solids to water compared to 60/40 in the winter.
The plant uses an aeration systems, chemicals and blowers to control sewage, and solids are separated and hauled to Georgia, where the town has to pay to dispose of it.
New plant is welcome news
Passmore is looking forward to the newly approved new sewer plant that will begin construction in the next couple of years.
“The new plant will allow us to turn the solids into fertilizer instead of hauling it to Georgia,” he said.
He also said the new plant will make things more efficient, as the current plant is from the 1960s and has largely out of date equipment.
“Some of this equipment can’t even be bought anymore so it has to be specially built,” Passmore said.
Dale Wike fixes parts that are too old to be bought.
The plant is tested weekly to make sure everything is operational, and Passmore is there to make sure things are running smoothly, whether he is on the clock or not. Passmore works from 6 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Monday-Friday and checks the plant every weekend, even though he doesn’t have to.
“Every Saturday or Sunday, I come out and rinse the screens to make sure there isn’t a clog. Flooding is also a problem when we get a lot of rain, so I like to stay on top of it and make sure everything is working right,” he said.
Passmore said that his usual day involves cranking the press up and letting it run for 3 hours, which presses all the liquids out of the solids, washing the press, mowing and weed eating, and checking the oxygen and PH meter levels.
The plant processes around 450,000 gallons per day and has a max capacity of 600,000 gallons.
During his time at the plant, Passmore has seen some wild happenings.
“About seven years ago, a guy shot at the old supervisor with a bow and arrow! It barely missed him. The man was out of his mind and was up on the hill yelling,” Passmore shared. “One time, a goose hit the power lines and knocked our power out. Thankfully, we have a generator.”
The town has received $17 million for a new system that will not only make Passmore’s job a little easier it will help industry and housing developments go up in town.
The money must be spent by 2026, and that’s a short amount of time considering the plant has to be designed, approved, and built in less than four years.