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The new Plains sewage treatment plant is getting closer to completion and might be operational by the end of October, said Mayor Dan Rowan, who visits the site to get a progress report almost weekly.

"This is huge for Plains; it's been in the works for years," said Rowan, who turned down a temporary appointment as a commissioner to see the project through. Rowan has been pleased with the progress and is hopeful the project will be done by contract deadline, which is October 16. However, Ed Schepp, the project superintendent for Prospect Construction, Inc., said that two variable frequency drives, which are needed for the aeration blowers, are on back order and might not arrive until sometime in November. He said they are looking at temporary alternative measures to get the lagoon operational sooner.

Prospect Construction, Inc., a company out of Puyallup, Washington, and Missoula, started work on the treatment plant in April. It was one of three companies to bid on the project at $6,152,752.

The lagoon is located less than a mile from the present lagoon site, but, unlike the present plant, is not within the flood plain. The Clark Fork River has eroded the shoreline over the years and threatens to overtake the lagoon's UV station. Rowan said he was thankful there wasn't heavy erosion this year. He added that he'd like to see the project done by the October deadline, but he understands the dilemma of ordering parts these days. "As long as we have it done before next spring we're fine," said Rowan.

Plans call for Prospect Construction to also shut down the present lagoon, which includes removing the mechanical parts and liners and dispose of the sludge. Greg Dicken of the Plains Public Works Department will continue to be responsible for the treatment plant, though he and Greg Welty, who heads Public Works, are both wastewater operation certified. Rowan said the new system will be able to treat sewage more quickly and more efficiently than the old one.

Schepp said the project has gone smoothly for the most part and he's pleased with the support from the community. The longest portion was the excavation of the some 47,000 cubic yards of dirt, which took about three weeks. It took the crew about a week to install the thick liners in each of the three cells. The present lagoon has four cells, also called ponds, but Rowan said the new treatment plant needs only three and with newer technology should be able to treat the sewage more sufficiently and it will be a cleaner process. The project employed between 15-25 workers, including about 25% from Sanders County, said Schepp, a Corvallis resident.

On Thursday, a crew installed a new valve into the force main along Helterline Drive, which will enable workers to switch sewage going from the present lagoon to the new site once it's ready. A crew was also working on the new 32x72-foot mechanical building, which will include the UV station and will be four times larger than the one at the present site.