Fort Smith consent decree report notes actions taken, money shortage

The City of Fort Smith in 2024 completed two major sewer basin projects, cleaned 32,971 linear feet of sewer system lines, and finished assessment of 456.7 miles of sewer system lines as part of its federally mandated sewer system work.

Those are some of the many actions noted in the recent 2024 federal consent decree report from Lance McAvoy, director of water utilities for the city. The 652-page document outlines, often in technical language, progress the city made in 2024 to meet requirements of the federal order to improve the city’s sewer system. (Link here for the PDF of the report.)

After decades of failing to maintain sewer infrastructure to federal standards, the city entered into a consent decree with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in late 2014. The consent decree, which began in January 2015, required the city to make an estimated $480 million worth of sewer upgrades in 12 years. That amount is now estimated to be as high as $800 million.

“The city has made good faith, best efforts to meet its requirements and deadlines. We have spent hundreds of millions of dollars,” McAvoy noted in the report. “Our effort to try to achieve unprecedented requirements — fixing all NASSCO 4/5 defects within too short a period of time — is far more expensive than the parties anticipated at the entry of the consent decree — which initial cost was the basis for the original schedule that we are operating under while the parties work through a modification to reflect these changed circumstances.”

NASSCO refers to the National Association of Sewer Service Companies, which sets standards for U.S. sewer system infrastructure. The “4/5 defects” refers to how sewer lines are assessed for quality, with 1 being good and 4 and 5 being lines that need immediate repair.

ACTION ITEMS
Following are some of the actions noted in the report.

• Work was completed two major projects using $15 million in federal funds. Those were Basin 10 and 14 capacity improvements, and part of Basin 12 remediation.
• Assessment work was completed on all remaining initial sewer system assessment (SSA) work and gravity sewer line cleaning in 2024.
• The city conducted 32,971 linear feet of targeted line cleaning in 2024.
• Work also continued using the Sewer Line Rapid Assessment Tool (SL-RAT), to help assess sewer lines with significant blockages and better determine whether targeted cleaning was required. A total of 34,736 linear feet were assessed using the SL-RAT. Of the 124 line segments assessed using SL-RAT, 7,416 linear feet were determined to have no significant blockages and were not cleaned in 2024.
• At the end of 2024, 11,346 manholes and 456.7 miles of sewer lines had been assessed in 2024 and previous years.
• A total of 445,284 linear feet of gravity sewer lines were cleaned in 2024.
• The sanitary sewer assessment conducted during the 2024 SSA included the study of 2,139 manholes, smoke testing 438,711 linear feet of sanitary sewer line, cleaning and televising 328,267 linear feet (62.2 miles) of sanitary sewer line, and dye testing of 15,905 linear feet of pipe with 73 dye tests performed in the study area.

FINANCIAL PRESSURE, TAX VOTE
McAvoy also said in the report that a 176% sewer rate increase between 2015 and 2017 and revenue from a 5/8 cent sales tax approved by voters in May 2022 have not been enough to allow the city to “keep up financially with the (consent decree) requirements.”

“The city continues to seek all available funding sources to keep its sewer system operating and to implement the consent decree requirements,” McAvoy noted. “However, the city also has significant drinking water needs, which have been deferred in an effort to keep up with consent decree requirements. The city cannot impose both massive water and further sewer rate increases at the same time — especially during these historically challenging financial conditions.”

The Fort Smith Board of Directors on Feb. 21 approved placing a sales tax reallocation plan before voters on May 13 to fund $385 million in bonds to fund consent decree work. According to city staff, the bonds would provide assurances to federal officials that the city is focused on sewer system improvements. The board also approved an ordinance to raise the sewer rate 3.5% starting June 1, 2025, and then Jan. 1 of each subsequent year through 2030.

The plan approved by the board to be sent to the voters includes:

• Reauthorizing a 0.75% sales tax first approved by voters in 2022 to pay for consent decree work and to pay bonds, with 0.125% used for the Fort Smith Police Department; and,
• Renewing the 1% street tax but reallocating 0.625% for streets, bridges and drainage work, with the remainder of the tax to fund consent decree work and bonds.