Here's the latest incoming from Trophy Club concerning their water, MUD, SLAPP, corruption and lack of "news" coverage.
We know we've asked this before, but is there a reporter in the county? Anyone? Hello...
Trophy Club's Wastewater Woes Worsen
Trophy Club Municipal Utility District(MUD) officials showed little Christmas cheer on Tuesday December 20th as they reviewed the findings of a local wastewater treatment consultant hired to review MUD 1 operations after repeated violations of the plant's permitted limits for Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD). The MUD District Manager and newly hired wastewater treatment superintendent briefed the 5 directors on the report and detailed the problems that contributed to the previous superintendent's resignation just last month.
The report addressing chronic violations of BOD limits was a 180 degree deviation from the previous administration's handling of the matter. As late as 2010, MUD director Jim Budarf had claimed in writing that the wastewater treatment plant had, “...never been in noncompliance.”
According to the report, the MUD wastewater treatment equipment was designed to meet a BOD permit limit of 10 parts per million (ppm) by the engineering firm CDM when it was installed. The current MUD permit limit however is 5 ppm(one half the equipment's capability).
The MUD was required to install approximately 3 million dollars in equipment in 2003 as a part of an agreed enforcement order by the Environmental Protection Agency. The enforcement order came after multiple permit limit violations of BOD and other pollutants.
Details about the wastewater treatment equipment had been requested repeatedly by the group Citizens for MUD Accountability. Ironically, MUD attorney Pam Liston, who had stated that there were no records responsive to those requests in 2009, presided over Tuesday's discussion.
Kevin Carr, who was the subject of a formal ethics complaint by Citizens for MUD Accountability in 2009 over the environmental violations, was also present. Mr. Carr, who had been quoted in 2009 as saying that he was “insulted” by the ethics complaint, stated for the record that the report was not related to drinking water. He did not clarify why he thought the discharge into Grapevine Lake (a source of drinking water for millions) had no impact on drinking water.
The Title of this article pays homage to the editorial travesty published by the Star-Telegram Times Register on Nov. 18, 2009 titled “Water Woes Wrapped Up” . According to that article,“Trophy Club resolved its wastewater violations months ago and no longer has issues needing correction...”
Unfortunately for the Trophy Club MUD, the Star Telegram holds little sway with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality who issued the permit this year with the 5 ppm limit. According to Trophy Club's most recent notice from that agency penalties can be subject to fines of $32,500 per violation per day with the possibility of imprisonment for knowing violations.
