Public comment: Eugene, Springfield failing on sustainable solution for water quality

Presenter: Eugene and Springfield require restaurants to pump their grease traps. But Kalvin Heard says the cities haven’t provided a sustainable solution for disposing of that waste. For background, this story starts on April 26, 2023, at the Eugene City Council work session. Michelle Miranda:

Michelle Miranda: I’m Michelle Miranda, the Wastewater Division Director. It’s a pleasure to be here today to talk about our regional wastewater utility and also the industrial pretreatment program.

[00:00:32] We’ll start with just a little bit of history. The Clean Water Act was passed in 1972 in response to concerns about pollution in our nation’s waterway. And with that came federal funding and local funding to build wastewater infrastructure. So our local leaders at that time decided to invest in the community regionally, recognizing the importance of the Willamette River and its tributaries.

[00:00:54] So the Metropolitan Wastewater Management Commission or MWMC was formed in 1977, and this is a partnership between the city of Eugene, the city of Springfield, and Lane County. So our first pretreatment program was approved by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality in 1983. Our treatment plant came online in 1984.

[00:01:17] The industrial pretreatment program is required by federal and state rules with the purpose of protecting public health and the environment—the Willamette River, our biosolids, people who work in and around the city sewer, and public investment and infrastructure.

[00:01:33] We operate under rules that are laid out in the Clean Water Act, and they’re established through the Environmental Protection Agency. Oregon Department of Environmental Quality then approves these rules and they issue National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits (the NPDES permits).

[00:01:51] And in those permits they include requirements for local pretreatment programs, which the state of Oregon also approves those programs. So the program requirements for the pretreatment program, they’re stated in the Schedule E of our permit, and they’re also in the MWMC sewer ordinance, and ultimately they land in Eugene City Code Chapter 6.

[00:02:11] We began operation operating our biosolids facility in 1989 and we’ve had four wastewater discharge permits since that time, with the most recent issued in November of 2022. And that’s the reason I’m here to talk to you today, because the compliance with that new permit requires us to make a few updates to city code.

[00:02:33] And so what has changed with these updates? Well, the short story is not much, even though your packet might say differently.

[00:02:40] Presenter: Presenting all the updates listed in the packet, Mayor Lucy Vinis, Councilor Randy Groves, and Councilor Matt Keating:

[00:02:48] Lucy Vinis (Eugene, mayor 2017-2025): An ordinance concerning the industrial pretreatment program, repealing sections 6.501, 6.506, 6.511, 6.516, 6.521, 6.526, 6.531, 6.536, 6.541, 6.546, 6.551, 6.556, 6.561, 6.566, 6.761, 6.5—sorry. That last one was wrong. 6.571…

[00:03:25] Councilor Randy Groves: …6.576, 6.581, 6.586, 6.591, and 6.596 of the Eugene Code 1971. Adding section 6.550, 6.552, 6.554…

[00:03:45] Councilor Matt Keating: …6.556, 6.560, 6.562, 6.564, 6.566, 6.568, 6.570, 6.572, 6.574, 6.576, 6.578, 6.580. 6.582, and 6.584 to that code, and providing for an immediate effective date.

[00:04:05] Presenter: Michelle Miranda:

[00:04:06] Michelle Miranda: Most of the changes are a reorganization of the section language and alignment with the federal and state model pretreatment ordinances.

[00:04:16] There are a couple new things and most of them are around adding flexibility for businesses like the electronic reporting rule. Now we’ll be able to accept electronic signatures from required reports from businesses and industries.

[00:04:29] And also there’s a bit more flexibility for folks that don’t discharge a high volume, but still fall under some categorical definitions, so, like people who discharge very small amounts to our system.

[00:04:42] Presenter: In recent years, the City Council spent more time reciting the changed section numbers than actually discussing what’s in those sections. But one of those changes could prove to be very significant. Speaking during public comment at the Metropolitan Wastewater Management Commission April 11, 2025, Kalvin Heard:

[00:05:02] Kalvin Heard (Heard Farms): I am Kalvin Heard from Heard Farms and I genuinely appreciate the opportunity to speak with you today. Our family-owned business in Roseburg operates a wastewater treatment facility alongside our ranching efforts.

[00:05:14] For many years we’ve been committed to responsibly processing a diverse array of heavy waste materials including septage, grease trap waste, food manufacturing waste byproducts, and biosolids from 20 different municipalities.

[00:05:28] We also manage waste from RV parks, rest areas, portable toilets, and casinos.

[00:05:35] The decisions made by this committee (MWMC) have a profound effect on our operations. For over two decades, we’ve been managing waste from Lane County and also the cities of Eugene and Springfield.

[00:05:48] However, three years ago, these municipalities abruptly stopped accepting grease trap waste primarily due to concerns that it diminished the value of methane credits generated by their anaerobic digester.

[00:06:04] This unexpected shift put the entire burden of managing grease traps on our shoulders, directly on our shoulders. Processing fats and oils and greases is especially challenging when our facility gets overwhelmed with these substances. We experienced significant clogging and disruption to our operations.

[00:06:25] We were taken by surprise by this influx. There was no warning and we only realized the extent of the problem when our system began struggling.

[00:06:34] Furthermore, the pricing from the cities for processing septage has been unreasonably low, at less than 15 cents per gallon, which is far below break-even point. We charge 20 cents per gallon. But to adequately cover our transportation and treatment costs to treat grease and septage, we need to raise that to an average of 25 cents.

[00:06:58] This pricing issue has played a key role in our current predicament. While the cities require that restaurants should regularly pump their grease traps, they haven’t offered any sustainable solution to disposing of the waste. The only alternatives now are transporting to Heard Farms or trucking it to facilities in Portland and Idaho. And Portland and Idaho don’t really work.

[00:07:22] I urge you to acknowledge the seriousness of this situation and recognize that responsible solutions, reasonable solutions are within reach. The cities could adjust their price to more accurately reflect the actual cost of septage treatment. Such a change would help us manage the waste streams better by balancing septage with fat, oil and grease, and enabling our facility to run more efficiently. Alternatively, they could choose to stop accepting grease altogether.

[00:07:54] At Heard Farms, we are dedicated to recycling waste in a beneficial manner without discharging any of it into the waters of the state. If we truly aim to be responsible stewards of the environment, we need to avoid directing heavy waste such as septage, grease trap waste, and portable toilet waste into the rivers.

[00:08:18] While I understand that your facility treats this waste before it enters our waterways, it’s critical to realize that septage is fundamentally different from standard sewage. Having sat in septic tanks for years, sometimes even two decades, it contains high suspended solids that don’t settle like typical waste.

[00:08:43] According to some EPA studies, a pound of biological oxygen demand, BOD, from septage entering a facility is a pound of BOD that exits. We need to explore alternatives that allow for beneficial reuse of septic and similar waste in ways that promote sustainable farming practices, ultimately yielding food for our communities instead of charging them into the Willamette River, where they contribute to the decline of fish populations due to deteriorating water quality.

[00:09:17] Thank you once again for allowing me to speak today. Given the significant impact of your decision on our environment and community, I urge you to act with foresight and responsibility as you navigate this complex issue.

[00:09:31] Presenter: At public comment April 11, a Roseburg wastewater facility says: ‘We were taken by surprise.’ Kalvin Heard tells the MWMC that nobody from Eugene or Springfield told them the entire burden of managing grease traps would fall to their business.