Untreated sewage still discharging at a Bethel home as council weighs abatement Friday

Untreated sewage is still reaching the ground at a home on Akiak Drive, according to a city nuisance report going before the Bethel City Council on Friday, Aug. 21. The city's report characterizes the conditions as a public-health hazard and environmental-contamination risk. The report seeks a formal nuisance determination from the council and authorization to move forward with abatement action.

The city terminated water service at the property on Aug. 12 to stop it from contributing to the discharge. The next day, the city says it learned the resident had reconnected water without authorization. The report lists that step, along with the continuing discharge, among the conditions supporting abatement.

The owner was formally notified of a nuisance condition on July 31, citing a broken or failed wastewater system and discharge of untreated wastewater onto the ground. A citation for noncompliance followed Aug. 11, and a Notice of Continued Violation came Aug. 12, warning that water service would be shut off and that continued noncompliance could bring further citations and legal remedies.

City Manager Lori Strickler's report, dated Aug. 14, cites Bethel Municipal Code provisions on sanitary facilities and shutoff for improper plumbing, along with state rules at 18 AAC 72.050 and 18 AAC 72.090 covering minimum wastewater treatment and system failures and spills. The agenda packet contains no response from the owner, and the source material does not include his account of the shutoff or the reconnection.

The case adds to a nuisance caseload already before the council, part of a backlog of dozens of nuisance cases where the council can order fixes or demolition and place a lien to recover costs. The council is separately weighing a Sept. 1 hearing on three other properties.

By the city's account the water is back on, and the sewage still has nowhere treated to go.