State Investigates Elm Springs Disposal Field

ELM SPRINGS (KFSM) The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality is investigating whether the town of Elm Springs is properly maintaining an evaporation field where liquid waste is disposed of, officials say.

State investigators traveled to Elm Springs on Thursday (Oct. 16) to examine the field and are putting together a written report on whether the field has been maintained properly as spelled out in the towns state permit, according to officials. Another name for the 6.2-acre piece of land under investigation is surface-pipe disposal field.

A complaint was filed with the state on Oct. 13 by Harold Douthit, a member of the Elm Springs City Council, officials said.

Douthit is vying to unseat Elm Springs Mayor Ben Wall in the Nov. 4 election.

The town uses the evaporation field to dispose of liquid waste after it has been processedthrough the sewer-and-water treatment plant,according to Kevin Caudle, an Elm Springs Sewer Committee member. After it is drained into the field, it evaporates, Caudle said.

Thecomplaint filed with ADEQ states that the guidelines for the surface-pipe disposal field outlined in the towns permit are not being upheld.

At issue is the disposal of grass clippings when the field gets mowed, according to Caudle. He said although the field is being mowed on a weekly basis, the grass clippings are not being gathered and disposed of. They are being left in the field, according to Caudle.

Wall told 5NEWS the clippings are not a major problem.

The mayor also said that once the clippings were bagged, there was the problem of what to do with them, and there was no good way to dispose of them.

If the state finds a problem with the upkeep of the land, the town could risk losing its permit for the field, Caudle said.

Link:
State Investigates Elm Springs Disposal Field