By Sarah Stephens
Elmore Autauga News
Photos courtesy of City of Millbrook
The City of Millbrook has approved spending $833,622 and declaring an emergency condition under the Public Works Bid Law regarding a complete failure of a force main sewer line that was reported Nov. 7. A temporary repair was quickly made, according to officials, but a permanent fix is needed immediately.
Director of Millbrook Utilities Michael Harris said “This is an asbestos line that was put in during the late 60s or 70s. The problem is, the road has been widened,” Harris said the city cannot make the repair because it would include digging up a portion of Hwy. 14, a main road overseen by the Alabama Department of Transportation.
“The Department of Transportation does not want us to do that. In order to fix it, we have to reroute it and run it to the treatment plant to upsize for the future growth.”
There is no current leak, thanks to the Utilities Department making temporary repairs.
Mayor Al Kelley praised Harris and Project Manager Stuart Peters on their diligence working through the temporary fix.
He said that the city requested for ALDOT to reimburse the city for the repairs, but ALDOT officials said they could not.
“(The replacement) was scheduled to be moved when the state widens the highway in about two years,” Kelley said. “ALDOT was going to pay us to move it at that time. But they cannot do that now, because the Federal Highway Department has the money, but they are in a time frame where they have to get Hwy. 14 finished. And they are not ready to start on it yet. So, when we get to that point that they are ready to widen the highway, we will approach them again.”
The problem was discovered in November, when an Elmore County employee reported raw sewage gushing through the center of Alabama Highway 14 at the intersection of Ingram Road. Upon inspection, the City of Millbrook discovered the force main failed in an unknown location underneath Hwy. 14.
A temporary repair was performed to cut off half of the flow to the ruptured line, leaving a secondary line to incur the flow. This has caused enormous stress on the secondary line, officials said.
This single secondary line currently contains approximately 70 percent of the total raw sewage for the entire city, and they say it is only a matter of time before it fails.
Under the Code of Alabama 39-2-2, it provides in the case of an emergency affecting public health, safety, or convenience, contracts for repairs may be let to the extent necessary to meet the emergency without public advertisement.
The City Council agreed that an emergency exists. David Bulger, Inc was awarded a contract to make all necessary, permanent repairs to prevent contamination of waterways and sewer service outages.
Harris briefed city officials on the current situation.
In his letter to officials, he writes, “Hwy. 14 was widened many years ago leaving the force main vulnerable, because the encasement was not extended as the road was widened,” he said. “The end of the encasement is in an unknown location underneath Hwy. 14. The location of the leaking force main indicates failure inside of the encasement in said unknown location.”
He said the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) was immediately notified of the failures, and the City of Millbrook complied with ADEM protocols.
“While I fully understand and appreciate the various bid requirements placed upon us by the county, state and federal agencies, it is my considered opinion that this commercial roadway is in immediate danger of collapse and represents a danger to vehicle traffic if not completely replaced in a timely manner,” he said.
City officials praised the Utilities Department on the temporary fix, which prevented further runoff into area waterways and damage. Council President Michael Gay said the Utilities Department did all the mitigation work to prevent further leaks until a permanent replacement.
“You lined, you cleaned the site up and everything is in good shape and passable so there was not anything left out there. You all got on it and took care of it. Thank you.”
Harris thanked everyone for the support and admitted, it has been “a nightmare” dealing with the emergency.
