More than a year ago, there was much ado about the City of Montesano’s waste water treatment plant — it was characterized as an ecological disaster in the making and in need of immediate attention. Since that outcry, there have been no notable changes.

During the April 25 Montesano City Council meeting, the council again was updated regarding the issues the treatment plant faces as well as the options that could be pursued to mitigate the concerns.

Currently, the Wynoochee River is encroaching on the wastewater treatment plant. The river has meandered east and now has eroded the river bank so much that it’s nearly touching the treatment plant.

Two situations are being forecasted.

First, the river could continue to erode the bank and seek other ways around the facility, then eroding the bank to the north of the facility creating an island.

Second — and worse — the erosion has the potential to breach the treatment plant. If the treatment plant is breached, it would send untreated waste spilling into the river, and that waste would be carried into the Chehalis River and then downstream, impacting every community along the way, including Cosmopolis, Aberdeen and Hoquiam.

The Vidette discussed the issue with City Councilman Dan Wood in an April 6, 2017, story. Wood has taken an active role in finding a solution for the situation and he first brought the situation to the attention of the council.

Little has changed in the plan since the story was published.

During the April 25 Montesano City Council meeting, Scott Boettcher of the Chehalis River Basin Flood Authority presented the plan to the council.

The plan involves “retraining” the river so it meanders away from the facility. The Flood Authority will install a river bank wall later in 2017 (a similar wall already was installed at the facility to protect the treatment plant from high water levels during severe flooding). The proposed wall will reduce erosion.

In 2018 and 2019, the Flood Authority will install manufactured log jams to slow down and redirect the current.

The ultimate goal is for the river to divert to its relic channel (where it naturally flowed before it meandered to the east). Ultimately, the Flood Authority hopes to solve the problem using mostly natural means (no dredging will take place, Boettcher said).

“It can become its own self-sustaining solution,” Boettcher said. “Right now we’re in a very heavily man-maintained solution with sheet pile, rip rap and can we go to something else? The hope is moving it back to this old channel with log jams and things of that sort that we might have something that’s a little more self-sustaining.”

Building the wall will cost some $3.5 million. Additional measures could cost another $3.5 million for a total project cost of about $7 million.

The state’s capital budget currently has $4-5 million earmarked for the project, however the budget has not yet been formally adopted by the state.