Amador County – The Ione City Council today is expected to discuss a report that indicates the city’s wastewater treatment plant is not seeping into nearby creek, or if it is seeping, that the affects are minimal.
The council was expected to discuss a report issued Monday that analyzes a detailed Isotope Study conducted on the City of Ione Wastewater Treatment Plant, by consultants HydroFucus Inc., and Robertson-Bryan Inc.
The Isotope Study made an assessment of the movement of wastewater from the city of Ione’s wastewater treatment plant into Sutter Creek. The treatment plant is located south of Sutter Creek, in a small valley, west of the city of Ione. The study looked at the potential for seepage from the storage ponds of the sewer plant, that the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board identified as seeping into the Sutter Creek.
The report gave a summary and conclusion that, at the time the samples were taken, the “isotopic composition of Sutter Creek water, wastewater treatment facility pond water, area well water, and Amador Transmission Pipeline samples are distinct and can be clearly differentiated from one another.”
The report said: “The results of this analysis indicate that there is not an isotopic difference in Sutter Creek water samples collected upstream and downstream of the wastewater treatment facility pond. The downstream creek sample showed no discernable influence from (the facility) pond water seepage in its isotopic composition.”
The difference in water samples upstream and downstream “indicated significant differences for only four of the 19 water quality parameters evaluated.” Those “showing significantly higher concentrations downstream are sodium, chloride, boron and manganese.” The report said that groundwater on the north side of the creek “is a more likely influence on Sutter Creek water quality.”
It further concluded that “the collective weight-of-evidence from isotopic, water quality and water balance assessments indicate that any wastewater treatment facility pond seepage to Sutter Creek that may occur is negligible, and is not discernably affecting the creek’s isotopic composition or water quality.”
The study was made to answer questions about seepage raised by the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board, which could make its own determination of the isotope study results.
Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
