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December 2, 2009

Flooding damages water plant

Fort Gibson board approves up to $25,000 for emergency repairs after valve fails

By Liz McMahan

FORT GIBSON — Emergency repairs of up to $25,000 were approved for Fort Gibson’s water plant in an emergency meeting of the Utilities Authority on Tuesday evening.

Utilities Director Robert Raley said he was notified about 1:30 a.m. Monday that a valve at the plant had failed to close during a backwash of filters and several motors and monitoring equipment had been submerged.

The extent of the damage has not yet been determined, but at least two turbidity meters (used to measure the amount of suspended solids in water) will have to be replaced, Raley said. They are $2,500 to $3,000 each.

He said the town may be able to have some motors cleaned and rewound rather than replaced.

Mayor Steven Hill told Raley to present the board with a list of what he needed to make necessary repairs rather than just trying to get by.

“If the plant fails, we’re out of business,” Hill said. “If it’s (repairs) above our spending limit, we (the board, not Raley) need to decide that.”

Hill said the town put $1.2 million into upgrading the plant several months ago.

“I’ve heard nothing since then but about how it does not work,” Hill said.

Raley said that upgrade made the plant fully automated.

This is not the first time the plant has flooded since it was automated, Raley said. He said he was not in charge of the plant at the time, but he has been told the equipment was flooded shortly after the equipment upgrade.

Steps also will be taken to reroute the flow of water in case there should be a similar overflow in the future he said. The rerouting would take the water outside and away from the plant instead of into the pump wells.

The plant produces about 1 million gallons per day right now, but in hot weather, production goes up to 1.5 million gallons per day, Raley said.

The water goes to customers in Fort Gibson and several adjacent water districts, he said.

The plant’s water quality was not jeopardized with the flooding, he said.

Raley and town administrator Kathryn Carson said the town should be able to meet the make the repairs by making adjustments in the current budget.



Reach Liz McMahan at 918-684-2926 orClick Here to Send Email

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