As long as we are talking about being truthful, we thought it would be a good time to review another FAQ from our friends at the Terrebonne Sanitary District (TSD). These questions concern the sewer line TSD attempted to place near the communities water wells. The FAQs are…
Why did the Terrebonne Sanitary District request an OHA waiver for the sewer line near Well #4?
(Because these responses are rather long, we will only take excerpts from each of them. To read the complete responses, please go to their website as noted below.)
“…sewer main on B Avenue was planned to be approximately 80 feet from TDWD Well #4.”
Just like other areas of this answer, TSD is only telling part of the story. The original plan was to place this sewer line closer to 50 feet from the well. Only after they were called out for getting the waiver without input from the water district did they suggest moving the line back to 80 feet to move the line away from the water wells
“The waiver was withdrawn by OHA on July 16, 2024, not due to any procedural or hydrogeologic issues, but because the TDWD did not need it at this time and requested its withdrawal.”
Here TSD does not tell you that they applied for the waiver in January of 2024. They never consulted with the Terrebonne Water District about the sewer line. The water district did not find out about the sewer line near their wells until May of 2024. Secondly they say TDWD “requested its withdrawal”. According to TDWD they did not ‘request’ anything…they demanded that the waiver be rescinded because they never asked for it.
What measures are proposed to ensure the safety of Well #4 and address concerns about the sewer line placement?
“Terrebonne Sanitary District (TSD) offered to implement additional protective measures, such as alternate sewer routing…”.
This statement is true but there is context left out. They offered to make these changes ONLY after months of meetings and had been saying “it’s too late” and “it would cost too much”. They ONLY moved the line because they were forced to, due to the petition signed by the community and community phone calls to TSD and our county commissioners.
“These measures, though not required by law, demonstrate TSD’s commitment to ensuring the highest level of environmental protection.”
Can we assume they were not “committed” when they were fighting to place the sewer line inside the standard 100 feet setback? If the water district and the community had not acted, the sewer line would have been placed by the community’s wells, and that’s the truth!
“…pressure-rated sewer lines do not pose greater risks to the wells than the hundreds of existing drain fields…”.
Since there are no drain fields anywhere near the wells right now, of course a PRESSURE rated sewer line full of human waste very near to our water wells would pose a greater risk.
Should I be concerned about sewer lines contaminating Terrebonne’s water sources?
“OHA geologist review suggests that water from the well is not susceptible to contamination from the sewer line…”
Would anyone guarantee us that this pressure line would not contaminate our water wells EVER? Of course they wouldn’t.
Terrebonne Sewer District, our writers and our contributors are committed to bring you the true story about TSD. Please feel free to write and comment on any issue through the contact page. To comment directly to the sanitary district their contact information is below.
Terrebonne Sanitary District (TSD) – (425) 242-2458
Let your voices be heard. Contact the Terrebonne Sanitary District by phone, their website, or attend their meetings. Times and dates of all meetings are posted on their website.
Thank you for taking the time to give us more complete answers than we are getting from the TSD