Rush Strong Still Battling Sewage Issues

After three months of summer vacation and extensive work that included consultation with local experts, students and teachers will return to a familiar, if improved, problem at Rush Strong School. Last spring information came to the forefront that indicated environmental violations regarding the sewage treatment plant at the school, with findings that were concerning to the state, county and parents of students at the school.

In an inner office memo of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation dated July 8, 2015, a representative of the department noted that Dr. Buchanon of the University of Tennessee had advised the team in charge of correcting excessive amounts of ammonia, E.coli and other findings to run the waste-water plant for twenty hours, rather than the usual four hours per day, to alleviate stress on the plant. According to the memo, a chemical engineer had also suggested adding 50 lbs of baking soda to energize the bacteria and there were updates and repairs made to some parts of the waste-water system.

In a required corrective action plan that is documented as logged in with TDEC on July 13, 2015 but dated on the letterhead as April 20, 2015, it was noted that although the ammonia levels have decreased from 140mg/l to 70mg/l they are still significantly higher than the 5mg/l that is allowable under the required NPDES permit. It was also noted that Rush Strong School is on Notice of Violation and asked for information regarding the timeline that the state would allow for the limits to drop to the 5mg/l before taking action. Though the corrective action plan was dated as filed in April and logged in July, after the state’s visit to Rush Strong School, the inner office memo indicated that no decision would be made on additional corrective measures until two months of operation, meaning it will be at least September before the sewage issues at Rush Strong School are either put to bed or deemed, again, to be insufficient. In the meantime, permitting, time and run off remain issues of concern, as the Holston River and Rush Strong School wait to see if the numbers are right and Jefferson County depends on the patience of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.