Couldn't happen here, right?
Saturday, August 16th KC Star, page 1 story. Thousands of gallons of raw sewage spilled from a waste water system into the Lake of the Ozarks in an incident last year. Are we vulnerable?
That depends. How could Weatherby Lake be affected? There are a number of potential points of entry for sewage to our lake. Theoretically, the homes that border Rush Creek could have a sewer break which could migrate into the Creek and North Cove. Same could be said for the other tributaries that lead to the lake...wherever storm water drains to the lake, sewage could be carried. Lake front homes could be another source. A sewer break leading to a grinder pump or an untended grinder failure could cause a spill in the lake.
Our biggest potential problem? Lift stations at U Cove and at Westside Drive. Thousands of gallons of sewage and not all ours. U Cove flow includes sewage from Zona Rosa. You've driven past the lift station, sitting right next to U Cove. If you look closely in the far right corner you will see a mobile generator...why is that there? The last major incident (a few years ago) showed what could happen. A lightning strike knocked out the power to the station, including the system that warns of a failure. Sewage began to back up. There was a minor spill and in the meantime, tanker trucks had to be called in to transport sewage from the station to prevent more sewage from spilling and fouling the lake. City and WLIC officials were on the scene. The outcome was a permanent stationing of the generator as a stop gap in the event of a power failure. The generator has to be started manually. There is no containment surrounding either lift station. Is it needed?
Leadership at both WLIC and the City has changed since then. We don't often think about worst case scenarios...but. Might be a good time to dust off policies and procedures. Oh, who is responsible for operation of the lift stations? Yep, our friends @ KC MO.
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4 comments:
KC continues to show indifference to WL. Day two of 2 1/2 years snaking thru WWW (unfortunately for them). It'll take an accident and evidently their residents and representatives to get KC to do something. How about winter driving on West Barry Road hills and dodging cars and people in WWW? This is the same KC that isn't that concerned about those pump stations. They delayed permits for the dam that in turn will cost us dramatic increases in construction. Remember the airport dumping anti-freeze in manhole covers a few years ago right up from the lake? How about continued infringement from air traffic over the lake? How about school construction and Barry road construction dumping silt? It's happening now.
Who is best to serve our interests vs. KC? What is the best tact? Whatever we're doing now doesn't seem to be very effective.
I sent an email message to Councilman Johnson. I explained in the email that the detour would cost KC sales taxes. Instead of shopping at Barry Road businesses (like Hyvee), we will go to Parkville (like the Price Chopper) because it will be a shorter drive with the bridge out. I got a brief response from his assistant stating that Councilman Johnson is aware of the problem. However, she did not address the sales tax issue. I think if we create a coalition and let KC know that we will be frequenting Parkville for shopping and restaurants due to the bridge closure, we might get some urgency to the bridge repairs.
Pat,
We live on Eastside so the bridge doesn't affect us (unless we need grasspad), however I believe in unity. I am willing ot boycot KC businesses for my fellow residents. Can we get the email address for Councilman Johnson so everyone can email him to let him see we mean business? Thanks
Councilman Russ Johnson
414 E. 12th
KCMO 64106
Russ_Johnson@kcmo.org
513-1609
Councilman Ed Ford
414 E 12th
KCMO 64106
513-1609
Ed_ford@kcmo.org
Actually, the inconvenience can be more than a longer trip to the GrassPad. Depending on the situation there could be a delay in emergency services to an Eastside call, example, Police are on a call at the Community Center and get a 911 on Eastside Drive, normally they would hop onto Barry then Eastside Drive...now extra minutes would be eaten up detouring...same for MAST ambulance in the Grasspad area needing to get to Barr Lane, etc.
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