Fort Smith lays out 12-year plan for clean water
FORT SMITH, Ark. (AP) — A 12-year, $200 million plan to help the city comply with the federal Clean Water Act will come at a cost: City residents will see water and sewer fees double in the next five years.
City officials announced a new proposed consent decree with two federal agencies that have been trying for years to force the city into compliance with environmental regulations. The proposal calls for eliminating sewer overflows and discharges into the Arkansas River during heavy rains.
"We've just got to fix the problem now, no matter how ugly it is," City Director Mike Lorenz told the Southwest Times Record (http://bit.ly/1veE4No ).
The proposed consent decree has been in the works for eight years and involves the city, the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Justice.
"These overflows are violations of the Clean Water Act," City Administrator Ray Gosack said. "I'm pleased to report that after two days of negotiations in Dallas last month facilitated by Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel, we have reached conceptual agreement on a recommended consent decree."
To help pay for consent decree costs, water and sewer bills would rise until they eventually doubled by 2019.
"It's going to be devastating to people on fixed incomes," City Director George Catsavis said.
In addition to addressing the overflows, the city still must pay a $300,000 fine for previous violations of the Clean Water Act, passed in 1972.
"Fort Smith's Clean Water Act violations are decades old," Gosack said.
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