Public offers mixed opinions on Lakeside sewer permit
Roughly 100 Flathead Valley residents piled into the Lakeside Quick Response Unit Community Room on Thursday to discuss potential changes to Lakeside County Water and Sewer District’s facilities, adding to over 200 comments already received on the project.
The Montana Department of Environmental Quality held a public hearing regarding a potential groundwater discharge permit and draft environmental assessment for LCWSD, part of a larger plan to update the district’s outdated treatment system and ultimately allow treated wastewater to be released into the site’s groundwater via a rapid infiltration system. The comment period on the project was extended twice, with Thursday as the last chance for the public to have a say before a DEQ decision.
Views were split in Thursday’s hearing. The majority of speakers were in favor of the permit, composed of public works employees, a few elected officials and members of the public. Flathead County commissioners Pam Holmquist and Brad Abell both spoke in agreeance with the permit, as well as LCWSD general manager Rodney Olson, Columbia Falls city council member Michael Shepard, Whitefish public works director Craig Workman and Evergreen Water and Sewer District general manager Cynthia Murray.
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