‘Bites’ of old pipe
Water, sewer improvement project inches along
Mary Stroka
NLJ Reporter
After completion of an improvement project planned for 2025, Newcastle will still have about 52% of its asbestos-cement water and sewer pipe to replace, Public Works Supervisor Greg Stumpff said in a presentation at City Hall on Sept. 16.
“This is an awfully big sandwich,” Stumpff said. “We don’t eat it all at once. We have to take bites. That’s the purpose for the 10-year plan.”
Stumpff and Kole Schell, an engineer-in-training with Engineering Associates, provided the City Council with the details about the proposed 2025 projects – Delaware Avenue-York Street and Sonora Avenue-Wentworth Street — in the presentation.
Stumpff told the News Letter Journal that the main reasons for 2025 improvements are the age of the pipe and safety, not the asbestos. The city samples for asbestos in the water, which EPA Region 8 requires.
“The asbestos is bound up in the pipe and not friable,” he said.
In the presentation, Stumpff said the life expectancy of the water pipes is around 55 years, and both projects will replace pipe that is 60 years old. He and Schell showed a sample of asbestos-cement pipe on York Street, that was installed in 1968 and showed cracks from delamination, which came from the city’s last main break on York Street. The sewer pipes were intended to last 70 years, and currently the city’s sewer pipes on Sonora Avenue are about 76 years old and the Delaware Avenue ones are about 50 years old.
The projects represent a collaboration between the city, the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality and the Wyoming Clean and Drinking Water State Revolving Loan Fund. The Wyoming Office of State Lands and Investments administers the fund.
Schell said the cost estimate for the Delaware Avenue-York Street project is $953,706, and it will involve the installation of about 1,882 linear feet of water main and 1,070 linear feet of sewer main.
Stumpff said the team decided to use pipe-bursting manholes and trenchless technology to save money on Delaware Avenue, which is in “good shape” and has good subgrade. On the Sonora Avenue-Wentworth Street project, the biggest problem with the sewer lines is sandstone manholes, which allow infiltration of water and roots, according to Stumpff, who said he spent seven hours in one manhole with a chainsaw to remove all the roots that had grown over in just a few years.
“When I started, my hard hat was outside of the manhole. When I got done, I could not reach out of the manhole,” he said. “So there was over 5 foot of roots on it. We hauled over 2,000 pounds of roots out of it that time.”
The design for the Delaware Avenue-York Street project, which is Phase 1, is complete, and the Sonora Avenue-Wentworth Street project is at 35% design, according to Schell. The Sonora Avenue-Wentworth Street project will involve installing about 1,081 linear feet of water main and 1,141 linear feet of sewer main, with a total project estimate of $1,349,173.54.
“We just have some fine-tuning to finish that up, and then we’ll get it out to some actual contractors so they can give us a firm estimate on that,” Schell said.
Stumpff said that the city received a $1 million mineral royalties grant toward the $2.4 million estimated project costs and will apply for a 20-year state revolving fund loan to pay for the rest of the costs. The city may need to pull about $300,000 out of reserves or cut some parts of the projects, depending on bids.
The team has received its state DEQ permit for Phase 1, and its DEQ permit is pending for Phase 2. Both phases still need to receive permits from the Wyoming Department of Transportation.
Projects receive DEQ’s
categorical exclusion
In a notice on Sept. 19, the Wyoming DEQ announced that the DEQ/Water Quality Division reviewed the proposed projects for the state environmental review process, following EPA and state procedures, and determined that the projects are eligible for a categorical exclusion. The projects won’t face further substantive environmental review requirements.
“Neither an Environmental Assessment/Finding of No Significant Impact nor an Environmental Impact Statement/Record of Decision will be required for the proposed action,” the notice said.
According to the notice, the projects received the exclusion because they are “replacement and minor upgrades” of existing infrastructure, in the city’s existing service area.
“These projects will be completely constructed in previously disturbed ground, specifically ground disturbed by the previous installation of the existing water and sewer mains, service lines, fire hydrants and ancillary features,” the notice said. “DEQ has determined that exempting the proposed projects from further review under the State Environmental Review Process will not result in adverse impacts to the population of the area of the City of Newcastle, Weston County, Wyoming.”
According to the notice, the city pursued funding from the Wyoming State Revolving Funds program and mineral royalties grants for the projects and will “assess user rates/fees/assessments as a part of their consideration for each project.”
According to Wyoming’s Office of State Lands and Investments website, the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund program and the Clean Water State Revolving Fund program award loans for drinking water systems and sanitary sewer treatment, respectively, and MRG grants can be used to provide an essential public service.
“The City of Newcastle is aware of and accepts the fact that they will be responsible for any required mitigative actions associated with and including storm water runoff, erosion control, archeological/historic artifacts, and air quality concerns,” the notice said. “The removal of existing asbestos pipe, when encountered, will meet all environmental requirements.”
These are part of the SRF Program contract conditions.
People can request documents supporting this decision by contacting the DEQ Cheyenne office. They can comment on the decision by contacting DEQ SRF Project engineer Stan Miller at 200 W. 17th St., Suite 200, Cheyenne, WY 82002; 307-777-6371; fax number 307-635-1785; or stanley.miller@wyo.gov.
More details about the funding plan are available at the Newcastle City Clerk’s Office, 10 W. Warwick St., Newcastle, or people can call the city’s clerk-treasurer, Stacy Haggerty, at 307-746-3535.
city beats
Notes from the Sept. 16 Newcastle City Council meeting
• The board recognized A Head of Our Time and Woody’s Food Center for their work to beautify the community with updates to their buildings.
• Campbell County Health EMS Manager Shane Kirsch provided the board with an updated service contract, which has an updated subsidy, with a 3.5% inflation increase they had requested. Due to a discrepancy between the service contract amounts listed on documents, the board tabled the service agreement until the next meeting.
• Deputy Clerk-Treasurer Heather Davies has resigned, and her position will be posted. Previous Deputy Clerk-Treasurer Becky Vodopich’s retirement party will be at 2 p.m. Sept. 27 at City Hall, 10. W. Warwick St., Newcastle.
• Public Works Supervisor Greg Stumpff presented the two bids that Peterbilt of Wyoming proposed for a new garbage truck: a $403,792 Labrie and $407,937 Sidewinder XTR. The city is trying to get grant funding from the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality. Otherwise, it will make a lease purchase. The board decided to table the decision until the next meeting so that Stumpff can make sure that purchasing the truck wouldn’t negatively affect whether the city can receive grant funding.