By BEN LUNDIN

Staff Reporter

LAPLACE – The St. John Parish Council wrote yet another chapter in the already epic saga of the long awaited introduction of a new sewer treatment plant in St. John Parish at the Parish Council meeting Dec. 28, when members tabled a decision of which facility to construct.

Too few members were present at the meeting to move the project forward, but a decision between a $10 million traditional plant and a $5 million state of the art system, developed by Comite Resources Inc., is expected at the next Parish Council meeting on Jan. 9.

The parish is in immediate need of a two million gallon per day increase of sewer treatment output to meet the demands of the State Department of Health and Hospitals, which both systems would provide.

St. John Parish Engineer Chuck Savoie has completed a report on the new system, which analyzes cost breakdown and offers in-depth examination, and has presented it to Parish Council members to aid their decision. They are expected to vote in favor of Savoie’s recommended system.

It appears he will suggest the traditional plant, because the Comite system has never been tested on a pond that hasn’t been aerated in 15 years, which is the case for St. John Parish.

&#8220There’s a number of facilities like this but they were with freshly dug ponds,” said Savoie. &#8220My question is, because this has sat with all these organics in the bottom of this pond is it okay after it hasn’t been used or aerated for 15 years.”

Savoie is unsure about whether the plant could maintain the State Department of Health and Hospitals’ requirements because of the pond’s stagnation, and then there may not be an economically feasible method of meeting its demands.

&#8220If it works that’s fine,” said Savoie. &#8220There’s just not enough study to prove everything.”

The traditional system, unlike the Comite system, offers a history of proven stability.

The two million gallon per day increase the plants offer will bring the St. John Parish sewer treatment output to approximately 11 million gallons per day.

Savoie said the sewer treatment plants are not currently over capacity except during heavy rains, when approximately two million gallons of water drainage are sent to the treatment plants.

Comite originally stated that they could build their system for $2 million, but that figure was raised in consideration of other factors such as building a road to the plant, lift station upgrades and electrical power.

If St. John Parish continues its current rate of expansion it will need to increase its sewer treatment output by four million gallons. If the Parish Council favors a traditional treatment plant, Savoie said future implementation of the Comite system remains a possibility.