North Pole needs $3.5 million to move its sewage outfall before daily fines start

North Pole needs $3.5 million to move its sewage outfall on the Tanana River, Utility Supervisor Paul Trissel told the City Council at a budget workshop Thursday.

The city's treated wastewater empties into a braid, or side channel, of the Tanana that no longer gets reliable flow from the main river because the river is moving south, Trissel said, according to a meeting transcript. The city has a state notice of violation over the outfall. It argued that its effluent still reaches the main river even when the braid runs dry, but the state didn't accept that argument. The issue has been going on for 13 or 14 years, Trissel said, "and they've had enough."

"They gave us 5 years to fix it, or this notice of violation is not just a notice of violation that's on a piece of paper, that goes into the fine stage, and that's daily," he said.

He said the state set that deadline in 2025, leaving the city about three and a half years. Trissel said he and a former city services director met with the state Department of Environmental Conservation about an extension, and none was available.

The engineering firm RESPEC found a new outfall site just south of Petro Star, with existing road access and strong flow. The plan would tap the force main behind the high school and run a new line along the inside of the dike to the new outfall. Design is underway. Trissel said DEC appears to favor the site because there is enough flow for a proper mixing zone, the area where effluent dilutes in the river.

The only alternative, a new treatment plant that meets water quality standards at the end of the pipe, would cost about $40 million, he said.

Construction should take one summer, Trissel said. A city official said a pending grant, if awarded, could cover $1.5 million, and the city could take a low-interest state loan. Trissel said the city hopes to find the money this coming year, or else put loans on next year's ballot.

The outfall now tops the utility's list, he said. The city has spent the last several years focused on its water system, including plans to replace old water mains. Trissel said that project, which DEC has already reviewed, can be put on the shelf for a while so the city can focus on the outfall. Removing sludge from the treatment plant, which Trissel said is starting to affect the quality of the effluent and is tied to the size of the mixing zone, is part of the project and likely won't happen until 2028, he said.