Field Office Compliance - Complaint

Complaint ID - 26026
Mason City Water Reclamation Facility - 310635546
2950 SOUTH BIRCH DR Mason City, IA 50401
Cerro Gordo County

FO 2

Complaint ID:
26026
Complainant
(L)
Complaint Location
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Complaint Resolution
Responsible Party
Report
Document Name Type File Date Note
Mason City (2018-10-03) LOI Bypass at 525 east state.pdf
Letter (public)
10/03/2018 Mason City (2018-10-03) LOI Bypass at 525 east state
Mason City (2018-11-01) Letter to Complainant.pdf
Letter (public)
10/03/2018 Mason City (2018-11-01) Letter to Complainant
File Name File Type File Date Note
Comments
10/10/2018 28 SEP 18 Continued: Mrs. Pratt re-iterated that she has had sewage in her back yard since June 2018 and it has also flowed into Willow Creek and this is unacceptable. I then re-iterated that I sympathized with her situation and that at this time I could commit to her that DNR will address this matter with the City to the extent of our regulatory abilities. In my opinion, Mrs. Pratt was clearly not placated; but the conversation ended more or less amicably. TRENT LAMBERT
10/10/2018 On 28 SEP 18 at 0812 hrs I received a call from Mrs. Pratt. She described the situation to me and her displeasure that this has gone on for 15-years and that no one will do anything about it. I explained that while I did agree that the bypassing of wastewater is never a desired situation, DNR does not have the authority to require the City to immediately repair a specific point in the collection system merely due to wet weather bypassing; when they are also bypassing from numerous other locations throughout the system. I explained that the the City had informed us that they spend $700K on I/I issues annually, and that the manhole in question has been bolted down. I explained, as Carl had previously, that we would issue the City an NOV for bypassing and continue to pressure them to make necessary I/I improvements. Mrs. Pratt then stated that she was sick and tired of everyone telling her the same tired old story and not doing anything about it. She stated that she used to run a naval base and they had a wastewater line break and it was repaired in a matter of days and they still got a huge fine. She asked what I thought the EPA would have to say about this situation if she called them. I stated that calling the EPA was certainly her prerogative, and that they would then contact us with regard to the matter. TRENT LAMBERT
9/27/2018 On 25 SEP 18 I called Ms. Pratt and left her a voicemail in which I acknowledged her complaint, her discussion with Berg and invited her to call me personally if she wished to further discuss this matter. To date (27 SEP 18) I have not received a call from Ms. Pratt. Should Ms. Pratt ultimately contact me, I will discuss the matter; although I will be unable to provide information beyond what Berg already relayed to her. FO2 will issue NOV for the bypass and attempt to work with the City in resolving the matter. TRENT LAMBERT
9/24/2018 I called Paul Vanous to follow up with the bypass complaint from Friday. Paul stated that the bolt down manhole was surcharged and wastewater was coming up from under the ring and cover. Paul stated that the sanitary sewer in that area is gravity flow and is a 12-14 inch line. He stated that they clean annually and cleaned the line late this summer. Paul stated that they typically spend about $700,000 on I/I work annually. He stated that they have done I/I work in the past in that location but could not speak to if they had any planned for the upcoming year. CARL BERG
9/21/2018 I called Mason City O & M office and spoke with Bob Bergren. He stated that Bill Stangler was on vacation all week. I then contacted Paul Vanous, WWTP supervisor and informed him of the complaint. Paul stated that they would go check it out. He stated that they had a pump to bypass near her location. I called Ms. Pratt to inform her that the city would check out the manhole this afternoon. She was not happy and wanted the city to take action to prevent the manhole from backing up sewage. I informed her I am not familiar with the sanitary sewer in her area so I could not speak to exactly what the issue was but that Paul stated that they were bypassing wastewater near her location so that should have alleviated the bypassing from the manhole in her backyard. I informed her that I would write up a complaint that she has had numerous sewage backups in her yard to document the issue. I stated that I know that Mason City is bypassing from 7 location in town and a fix to the manhole bypassing in her backyard is likely not an easy solution or something that will happen overnight. She asked if that was all that we were going to do. I stated that we would also issue a NOV for bypassing and could require a written response to how they plan to address the bypassing around town. She stated that she was sick of the city not doing anything and stated that she will continue to make calls to get this problem resolved. She stated that she would call EPA if she had to and I responded that she certainly can if she felt it was necessary. I reiterated that the backups can be difficult to resolve and the city is doing significant sewer work around town, but I could not speak to her neighborhood specifically. I stated I was sympathetic to her concerns but she was still unsatisfied. At that point I stated that I would have my supervisor contact her. CARL BERG

Compliance Tracking
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