Muskogee’s problems with its wastewater collection and transportation system aren’t anything new. Problems have been percolating for more than three decades.

The issue bubbled to the surface again after the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality issued a consent order that levies fines and mandates specific action. The order was prompted by a major raw sewage spill and inaccurate reports submitted by the city.

City Engineer Steve Almon said compliance is expected to cost at least $375,000 initially but could end up costing the city another $3 million.

The lion’s share of the total projected cost, Almon said, would be for an extensive examination of Muskogee sanitary sewer lines. The survey, according to Jay Updike of Holloway Updike and Bellen Inc., would cost an estimated $3 million if completed as proposed.

The consent order approved this past week by the City Council requires only the development of an approvable work plan proposing the sanitary sewer evaluation survey. Almon said once the plan is submitted, ODEQ likely will require completion of the survey by amending its consent order.

Carl Greuel, a Muskogee resident who used to work for the local engineering firm, said the thought of tax- and ratepayers having to foot the bill for the survey angers him.

“I don’t know why this would be done again,” said Greuel, who was a member of Holloway Engineering’s technical team, which conducted a similar survey about 30 years ago. “We did all this work — smoke tests and visual inspections — that they are planning to do again. Why didn’t these problems get fixed back then?”

Greuel said the survey, which he recalls being done during the late 1970s, included the collection of data used to compile technical reports and recommendations for repairs and replacement. Greuel said those recommendations also proposed rate increases to help pay for necessary repairs.

Updike of Holloway Updike and Bellen said the three-decade-old survey was completed through a federal grant program administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The program provided a 75 percent federal match for local funds for the improvement of municipal wastewater collection and treatment systems.

The 1970s-era survey, Updike said, consisted of two separate projects. The first phase focused on the infiltration of stormwater into the wastewater collection system.

“Back then there was so much stormwater getting into the system that it would overflow the system when it reached the treatment plant,” Updike said. “We did an analysis to determine whether it was better to treat the stormwater or find a way to get rid of it.”

As a result of the analysis, Updike said the city constructed two, 90 million-gallon basins to store the effluent that was more abundant during periods of heavy rain until it could be treated and discharged into the Arkansas River.

The second phase, Updike said, focused on efforts to find sewer-line leaks in the oldest sewer lines located within the original townsite. The city reportedly spent about $500,000 to repair major leaks located during the second phase.

“What has happened since then is the system has gotten older, and the rules have gotten tougher,” Updike said. “What we did in ’78 was good stuff, but it doesn’t last forever.”

Among those tougher environmental rules are those that regulate sanitary sewer overflows and bypasses. Updike said if two or more bypasses are reported at the same location within a year’s period, the situation is considered chronic and an enforceable violation of a municipality’s wastewater discharge permit.

Updike said the city of Tulsa smoke tests its sanitary sewer lines every 10 years and pursues maintenance projects based upon those tests. He said Muskogee should take advantage of the attention to its aging sewer lines as result of the ODEQ consent order to get a good grasp on the problem.

“You just can’t do nothing,” Updike said. “It’s a difficult problem, but it has to be addressed.”

As city administrators deal with the fallout from ODEQ’s consent order — the payment of a $50,000 fine, developing plans for a supplemental environmental project expected to cost another $300,000, and addressing other mandates required by the order — plans are in the works for the second phase of the Coody Creek outfall line.

The first phase, a nearly $6 million project that must be completed by Dec. 1 under the terms of the consent order, was financed through a capital improvements program funded by a three-quarter cent sales tax that expired Dec. 31.

The second phase of the Coody Creek line, which replaces the leaking line that prompted ODEQ sanctions, is expected to cost $8.6 million. Almon said the city also plans to replace a 27-inch sewer line that parallels Shawnee Bypass between Main and Beacon streets and rehabilitate four existing lift stations. The cost of those two projects, Almon said, will be about $2.55 million.

Those projects, Almon said, likely will be part of the next capital improvements program for which voters would be asked to pass a special sales tax.

City Manager Greg Buckley said it’s too early to tell what would be included in the next proposed capital improvements program or how much it would cost.

“We’ve been working on that, but we’ve got to come up with next year’s budget first,” Buckley said. “We have lots of lists, but the projects will have to prioritized with staff and council. Then we’ll have to determine funding limits and what would be a fair amount to ask voters to approve.”

Buckley said he expects to present his proposed budget to department heads Tuesday and to the budget committee on Wednesday. The budget committee consists of three city councilors: David Jones of Ward I and James Gulley, Ward II, are two members. A third member will have to be appointed to replace Frank Borovetz, who was replaced as Ward II representative by Shawn Raper.

With regard to the cost of complying with ODEQ’s consent order, Buckley hasn’t ruled out the need for rate hikes. But he said some money might be found by reprioritizing spending.

Buckley said his proposed budget for fiscal year 2009 provides money for the mandatory work plan and the supplemental environmental project required by the ODEQ consent order. It does not include the anticipated costs of carrying out the sanitary sewer evaluation survey.

Buckley said the budget must be approved by the City Council seven days before the end of the fiscal year, which is June 30. The matter is scheduled to be placed on the agenda for the June 23 City Council meeting.