(Editor’s Note: Audio from the City Council’s discussion on this issue is embedded below.)
By Michael V. Hannigan/HCNow
The City of Athens and the Athens Municipal Water Authority (AMWA) aren’t working together very well at the moment — a fact that spilled out into the public at the Athens City Council meeting Monday night.
Currently at issue is the administrative handling of Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) violation letters.
The most recent conflict surrounds a mailing sent by the City early this month. In a single envelope, Athens residents received a letter on City of Athens letterhead that the City had exceeded the maximum level for haloacetic acids again, and a separate, plain piece of paper saying AMWA had violated TCEQ monitoring and reporting requirements for turbidity*.
Both announcements were prompted by TCEQ notices sent to the City.
During a 45-minute discussion about the issue Monday night, City Manager Philip Rodriguez told the council the City was required to send the letters and that state law required they be worded exactly the way they were.
AMWA, however, disagrees.
In a letter dated November 8 and addressed to Athens City Manager Philip Rodriguez, AMWA attorney Martin Bennett wrote: “There is a large concern on behalf of AMWA that a misconception is being (sic) to the citizens of Athens that AMWA has violated certain TCEQ regulations or requirements when in fact those violations are the responsibility of the City of Athens. AMWA requests for you to clarify this misconception that is being portrayed to the citizens of Athens by notifying them of the actual responsibility for the operation, maintenance and repair of the water treatment plant to be that of the City of Athens and not of AMWA.”
So what is causing the confusion? The way TCEQ views the relationship between the City and AMWA, according to officials.
According to the contract binding the two entities, AMWA owns the water treatment plant that services the residents of Athens. The City is responsible for the operation, maintenance and repair of the plant. The City buys raw water from AMWA and uses the AMWA plant to treat the water before distributing it to residents.
According to the contract, the water belongs to the City the minute it comes out of the lake. Both the City and AMWA agree on this.
The TCEQ doesn’t see it that way, however, say local officials. Yes, the state understands that AMWA owns the plant. Yes, the state understands that the City runs the plant. But that’s where the understanding ends.
According to the TCEQ, the water doesn’t belong to the City until after it leaves the treatment plant.
This creates a real problem when it comes to administration, because if something happens inside the treatment plant — like a turbidimeter failing — the contract says it is the City’s responsibility, but the TCEQ currently treats it as AMWA’s responsibility.
Which, in this case, left the City required to send out a letter saying AMWA “violated the monitoring and reporting requirements” even though the City is the one doing the monitoring and reporting, as well as the repairs.
AMWA has been working to get the TCEQ to on the same page as the contract, but hasn’t yet succeeded.
In a letter dated April 27, 2016, TCEQ Deputy Director for the Office of Water L’Oreal W. Stepney wrote to AMWA: “Because of the unique agreement in which one entity owns the facilities and property but another entity is responsible for the operation, maintenance and repair of those facilities, the TCEQ has designated AMWA the owner and the City the operator of the AMWA Water Plant.”
But that hasn’t changed the name under which the violations get recorded.
City officials said if the TCEQ doesn’t change, the current contract between Athens and AMWA may have to be revisited. In the meantime, communication was cited as the key.
Athens City Councilman Ed McCain said, “If we all consider ourselves fiscal conservatives, the two entities working efficiently is the most beneficial to us financially (for) this city. Every dollar means something so taxpayers, citizens, call both boards, you know people on both boards, tell us to start working together.”
As for AMWA, Bennett wrote: “It is the opinion of AMWA that many of the misconceptions that are addressed in this letter can be resolved by more complete and regular communications between the City of Athens and AMWA. Therefore, in the future, we request for you to provide AMWA with any notifications that may be received stating the water treatment plant is in violation of any governmental standard or regulation and to immediately notify AMWA of the corrective actions that will be taken to resolve the issue. Without this type of communication, AMWA will have no other choice but to proceed with resolving problems that involve the operations, maintenance or repair of the water treatment facility. We hope this is not necessary as AMWA believes that would increase the overall cost of any such corrective action.”
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* “Turbidity is the measure of relative clarity of a liquid. It is an optical characteristic of water and is an expression of the amount of light that is scattered by material in the water when a light is shined through the water sample. The higher the intensity of scattered light, the higher the turbidity. Material that causes water to be turbid include clay, silt, finely divided inorganic and organic matter, algae, soluble colored organic compounds, and plankton and other microscopic organisms.” — U.S. Geological Survey