Public Works beginning Lift Station project with new grant

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ELLIJAY, Ga. – Gilmer County is soon to begin a major project in its landfill after a major leachate issue in 2019 saw engineering firm Carter & Sloope send a representative to the Board of Commissioners discussing this project.

In July of 2019, Kurt McCord of Carter & Sloope said that they had mad an emergency repair to the pipe to stop a leachate leak. Now, Gilmer Public Works Director Jim Smith stated today that the county has just finished a pre-construction meeting with engineers and the contractor on the project, Stanco, as well as the GEFA (Georgia Environmental Finance Authority) Project Manager.

Leachate, by definition, is water that has percolated through a solid and leached out some of the constituents. In this situation, that water has soaked through trash at the landfill before it gets collected and pumped out to a holding tank for treatment later. McCord explained in 2019 that the piping on the site uses two pipes, an inner 6-inch pipe, and an outer 10-inch pipe.

According to McCord, the system was not operating at optimal efficiency, about 35 or 40 percent. The resolution he offered at the time would run optimally at 75 percent efficiency, drastically reducing power consumption as well as systemic failures.

Now, according to Smith, the project is set to begin construction on the permanent solution in June of 2022. Smith said, “In the interim, we will be stockpiling dirt and things of that nature for getting ready.”

That stockpiling and preparation is going slow, however, as Smith has said that collecting supplies for major projects is stalling as waiting lists are backing up. Smith stated that, at this time, its hard to get a definitive answer on when materials like piping and concrete can be delivered.

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Public Works Director Jim Smith

However, a new grant is aiding in funding the million dollar project. Smith said that the county has received official notification to receive an additional $286,000 from ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act). The county has already received funding from the Act for other projects at the county’s discretion, some of those projects approved last year, 2021, included Hazard Pay for county employees who worked the the COVID-19 outbreak, a UV sterilization filter, and even considered utilizing some funds to expand the current water system further throughout the county.

This new contribution for $286,000 is a separate grant that the county will be using to fund part of this project.

Smith stated that with the extra funding they can replace the current gravity fed system with a force main pumping the water out of the 10,000 gallon collection and holding tank and into the public sewer system. However, Smith went on to add that this will be later in the project as they will focus on the area inside the landfill first.

The project is scheduled to continue into 2023 as the main project will complete in January and then they will move to the pump and line along Tower Road.

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