By Cyndy Cole | Arizona Daily Star
City workers knew back in the summer of 2010 that Flagstaff’s eastside Wildcat Hill sewage treatment plant wasn’t making the quality of wastewater for irrigation the city had promised to voters in 2004.
The levels of nitrogen — which can act as a fertilizer and harm groundwater supplies — were too high for five months in 2010, for 11 months in 2011, and for 11 months in 2012, state regulators report.
The city ultimately sent 124.9 million gallons of reclaimed wastewater that wasn’t as good as advertised into the irrigation system over 194 days.
But those in the know at the city’s utilities department didn’t step up testing to troubleshoot the problem and they didn’t tell state regulators as required, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality stated in a consent order the city signed Tuesday.
They also didn’t tell the public.
