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Ashland undoes sewage decision Council will hear alternatives to wetlands proposal in May By WENDY SIPOREN ASHLAND -- Yet another option for treating the city's sewage seems to have gone down the drain. Just 15 hours after voting unanimously to spend $125,000 on a new wetlands experiment to treat sewage effluent, the Ashland City Council reversed its decision and indefinitely postponed the issue Wednesday. The council Tuesday said it was no longer considering piping it to Medford for treatment. Councilman Don Laws, who made the motion to reconsider, said he is still very interested in wetlands as a potential treatment solution. But, he said, the city doesn't have the time to test the new submerged aquatic plant technique before it has to begin implementing another alternative as required by the Department of Environmental Quality. "What I'm afraid is we're going to have to choose one of the other alternatives and begin construction before we will have the results from the experimental wetlands," said Laws. "It will cost us millions of dollars to implement wetlands to replace the millions that we had already invested (in something else)." Other council members brought up a lack of information about the technology and the researchers promoting it as a reason for caution. In a memo to the council, City Administrator Mike Freeman said the new wetland technique probably wouldn't address temperature issues. Even if it were successful on a small scale, he wrote, there would be no guarantee that it could be translated to a full-scale operation. Cascade Earth Sciences has been working on a demonstration wetlands project since 1996, hoping to show the natural system is effective in reducing phosphates and water temperature with the ultimate goal of returning the effluent to Bear Creek. The firm told the council Tuesday that the existing system would not work in achieving phosphate standards set by the Department of Environmental Quality under the Clean Water Act. Phosphates are natural fertilizers that promote plant growth, which can rob fish of the oxygen they need. Cascade Earth Sciences proposed to do a five-month test of three different combinations of treatment systems using submerged aquatic plants that have shown promise in treating agricultural runoff in Florida. After the 4-2 vote Wednesday, City Administrator Mike Freeman said city staff would collect further background information on the submerged aquatic plant technique. Council members Susan Reid and Steve Hauck voted against the motion. They both see wetlands as the best alternative for treating the water and returning it to Bear Creek. Mayor Cathy Shaw also expressed support for the new wetland experiment. "If we want this community to feel committed to a spray irrigation project ... we as a body must ... exhaust the other alternatives out there," said Shaw. "For $125,000 it's worth that to stay at the table." Public Works Director Paula Brown is gearing up to present alternatives to the council May 2, with a decision expected May 16. The city must submit a plan for meeting DEQ standards to that department by June 3 or face daily fines ranging from $250 to $10,000. Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA