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Show Pleasant Grove City: It's Time to Move On j -! . X " . unit 17 ; . ' ' ' :"1 - ! i t - . v : r:- -rc,,,,,,,-,, : , ,, , ,; , -, , ,-., ; I i.n .-in-i ii nJ by Geri Taylor Editors note: This is the third and final story of a three part series on the treatment plant and the planned changes from 2010 to the facility. In March, 2010, the newly elected city officials of Pleasant Pleas-ant Grove sent a press release to the media stating their position on the foul and unacceptable odors corning from the Timpa-nogos Timpa-nogos Special Service District (TSSD). Their main concern was the composting done on-site, on-site, generating numerous complaints com-plaints from both local citizens and business owners. The tersely worded statement state-ment called on TSSD to immediately imme-diately stop onsite composting, which the city termed an "in tolerable situation that impacts the quality of life, the health, and the economy of Pleasant Grove" TSSD was put on notice no-tice that some type of action would be taken against the sewage sew-age plant if the situation did not change. At the time, TSSD was preparing the plant for a new covered system that would eliminate up to 97 percent of the odors associated with composting. com-posting. The proposed date was June or July of 2010 to have the Gore system in place, but for some the offensive smells had already done too much damage and negotiations were not acceptable. ac-ceptable. The reality was no legal leg to stand oh existed to stop the composting. TSSD asked for patience and a little time to get the new system operating to prove itself and also allow for future upgrades. The anticipated antici-pated dates came with a significant signifi-cant reduction of odor as well as complaints to either the plant or the city. And except for three or four "belches" caused by operator opera-tor error, the past eight months have been a drastic improvement improve-ment over the previous year. When asked where Pleasant Pleas-ant Grove City stands in regards to their initial press release, City Administrator Scott Darrington stated the city feels there has been improvement and even though it isn't 100 percent, it is significantly better than last January and February. The city recognizes that while the problem isn't 100 percent contained, there have been considerable improve- Accnrding to PG City officials, the Timpanogos Special Semice District treatment plant has had significant reduction of odors except for three or four "belches" caused by operator error in the past eight months. -Photo courtesy of Chris Hocker ments by TSSD as of last January Janu-ary and February and since July, the city has not received odor complaints from citizens. With the head works being covered the end of March, Darrington Dar-rington feels the situation will be contained enough that they can begin attracting businesses to the area and get back to a normal life. He said the city was ready to move on and look to the future growth of Pleasant Grove. |