Recent aerial photographs confirm the concerns of some local residents that the only water flowing past the Talkeetna Boat Launch area is coming from the slough that drains the Talkeetna sewage treatment lagoon.
Despite that, Mat-Su Borough Public Works Director Terry Dolan says it’s not necessarily a cause for concern at the moment, because the lagoons are not discharging. Dolan says that the lagoons store contaminated water through the winter, and it begins being discharged late in the spring. He says that the discharge has not begun, yet, and that the effluent will be confirmed to be in compliance levels before water is let out from the lagoons. What Dolan says is currently flowing in the slough is runoff from rain and melting snow, and not treated sewage.
Terry Dolan says that the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation recently visited the Talkeetna site after media coverage of issues with the system. He says the discussion was around the periodic problems with lagoon effluent and the measures to fix them.
One issue Dolan cites is grease and fat mixed with sewage. He says the Talkeetna lagoons are designed to allow a natural bacterial process to destroy contaminants before the water is discharged. If too much grease or fat gets in the water, Terry Dolan says it can stop oxygen transfer and prevent proper treatment. He says the borough is planning to use cameras in some downtown sewer pipes to determine where the grease and oils are coming from.
