he year 2010 may seem distant, but for the Augusta County Service Authority, six years away
is too soon. That’s because they may be on the hook for $20 million in improvements
to four
wastewater treatment plants by 2010. These potential standards, part of a multi-state
agreement aimed at reducing pollution in Chesapeake Bay, are
posing difficulties for small municipalities poised for growth.
The new pollution controls could limit county development by tightening wastewater
discharge
standards and treatment in growth areas, according to
Ken Fanfoni, P.E., executive director of the Augusta County Service Authority.
"Right now, the service authority is responsible for about 6 percent of the
nitrogen in the Shenandoah River basin and about 1.6 percent of the nitrogen in the
Potomac basin overall," Fanfoni comments. "We’re talking about spending $20
million to knock those figures down from 6 percent to 4 percent and from 1.6 percent to a
little over 1 percent."
Fanfoni says dealing with upcoming wastewater treatment issues and working on a new
filtration system for a water plant are priorities. On the plus side, the ACSA’s
landfill has attracted national attention for its resourceful use of wastewater sludge.
After sludge is combined with wood wastes and soil, it’s used as a cap; after a few
years the landfill looks like a meadow.
Anderson & Associates works with the ACSA
through a general services contract. The firm is currently working with the ACSA engineer
William Monroe, P.E., on design and construction standards for water distribution and
wastewater collection systems. A&A is also helping to upgrade water filtration systems
to meet new state standards, studying the Verona water system to site a new water tank,
and evaluating spillway capacity and the inundation zone of Mills Creek Reservoir dam.
Although he liked consulting, Monroe’s current job gives him "a feeling of
ownership" he enjoys. In consulting, he says, "You turn over the design and move
on. Here, the design becomes part of your system."
In his spare time, Monroe hopes to work on a’67 Mustang he’s been tinkering
with since high school and on a Suzuki Samurai he describes as "a small jeep with the
aerodynamics of a cinderblock."
Ken Fanfoni received the 2003-04 Ken Miller Water for People Award for helping a
Bolivian Village obtain clean water. Fanfoni, who received his master’s degree in
civil engineering from Cornell University, has been
at the ACSA for 11 years. He and his wife have two sons, now at James Madison University and the University of Virginia. Both sons work as ski
instructors and summer recreation leaders at Wintergreen
Resort.
