Lyon OKs contract to manage effluent and test groundwater

Improving how effluent is managed and protecting the rivers and groundwater from contaminants are the goals of an agreement with an environmental engineering company.

The Lyon County Commissioners have approved a $389,300 contract with Brown & Caldwell of Pleasant Hill, Calif., to perform work at the Rolling A Wastewater Treatment facility in Dayton.

Lyon County Utilities Director Mike Workman said the company will do environmental-impact studies and create a computerized model that will be able to test the level and quality of the groundwater.

He said effluent from the plant will be tested for the presence of contaminants, both before and after it is discharged into rapid infiltration basins that the company will build. The basins are large ponds that store the effluent before it is recharged into the ground.

Workman said there was no evidence of contaminants in the groundwater or surface water, but the company will begin tests to make sure none appear as Dayton continues its growth.

"We just want to make sure that we're not contributing to problems or impacting the environment negatively," he said.

The company will install groundwater observation wells and monitoring wells, take samples and test those samples at state-certified laboratories, Workman said.

Brown & Caldwell will also study evaporation, the filtering capacity of the sandy soil at Rolling A and how much effluent will be needed by the nearby golf course and other developments.

• Contact reporter Karen Woodmansee at kwoodmansee@nevadaappeal.com or 882-2111 ext. 351.

Contaminants

Brown & Caldwell will test the effluent for these contaminants:

Priority 1

• Fecal coliform

• E coli

• Iron

• Manganese

• Arsenic

Priority 2

• Hormones (estriol, estradiols, estrone, progesterone, trans- and cis-testosterone

• Phenolic endocrine disrupters - bisphenol A, octylphenol, nonylphenols, detergents, flame retardants

Personal Care Products

• Ethylenediamine tetra-acefic-acid (EDTA)

Pharmaceuticals

• Acetaminophen

• Amoxicillin

• Triclosan

• Ibuprofen

• Azithromycin

• Caffeine

• Gemfibrozil

• Triclosan

Disinfection by-products including nitrosomines

• Formaldehyde and related aldehydes

• N-nitrosodimethylamine

• N-nitrosodiethylamine

• N-nitrosopyrrolidine