A ban imposed by the state on new sewer taps in Bryson City will likely be lifted in a few weeks.
Town Manager Regina Mathis said she has been working with the state Department of Environmental Quality and the town’s engineering consultant to get the ban lifted.
“It’s not lifted yet, but we are well on our way,” Mathis said.
The state slapped the town with the ban on Oct. 21.
Meanwhile, Mathis said applicants who had sewer taps in the pipeline before the ban’s enactment, can go ahead with their plans.
Mathis said the town has about eight applicants who had already been approved and won’t be affected.
Applicants for sewer taps placed after the effective date will have to wait or get state approval on a case-by-case basis, but she expects the ban to be lifted shortly.
The state imposed the ban after a DEQ study showed the town exceeded its wastewater treatment capacity by 87.5 percent. The state’s threshold is 80 percent.
The town has a permitted treatment capacity of 660,000 gallons a day. As recently as two weeks ago the town exceeded 1 million gallons during a two-day rainstorm.
“A review of your discharge monitoring report data for the period of August 2018 through July 2019 indicated flow at the subject facility exceeded the 80 percent threshold,” said a letter from state DEQ Division of Water Quality Director Linda Culpepper.
The 80 percent threshold triggers an automatic moratorium.
Under the ban, all new sewer taps must get state approval and the applicant must present an engineering study showing the project won’t further add to the 80 percent threshold.
Tim Heim, with DEQ’s regional office in Asheville, said he expects the town’s ban to be lifted because of steps Bryson City has already taken by hiring an engineering firm to study the town’s wastewater treatment facility.
The town hired Asheville engineering firm McGill Associates earlier this year to study whether to build a new treatment plant or expand the existing one.
The firm is also studying infiltration and inflow into the sewer system, which is the primary culprit for causing the town to exceed its 660,000-gallon capacity.
“In order to attain compliance with the rule, you must submit an approvable engineering evaluation of future wastewater treatment needs,” according to state regulations.
Heim said officials in Raleigh will likely lift the ban.
“It’s anticipated that a formal letter from the town’s consultant engineer will be sufficient to document that they are engaged in the activities required by the regulations and lift the moratorium,” Heim said.
Much of the town’s problem with exceeded capacity is from “I and I” or inflow and infiltration into the sewer system.
Leaks in the sewer system allow storm water to inundate the treatment plant and overflow into the river.
The town has several projects underway to repair sites where inflow occurs. The town performs “smoke tests” to discover where leaks occur.
The town has a grant application to replace 2,700 linear feet of antiquated sewer lines on Carringer Street, which is a high impact area, Heim said.
Bryson City has had more than 24 citations from the state for sewer system overflows into the river in the past 10 years, including about 10 incidents in the past two years.