The City of Pikeville’s sewage treatment plant recently received a Notice of Violation following an inspection and subsequent report from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC).
The notice was sent last Tuesday, July 8th, to Pikeville Mayor Phillip Cagle, addressing concerns stemming from multiple violations found during an earlier routine inspection in June.
Photo Courtesy TDEC Report
Those violations include dangerous levels of E. Coli bacteria in the treated wastewater effluent, low dissolved oxygen levels, high ammonia nitrogen levels, and high residual chlorine levels.
In addition to this, floating solids were also observed in each of the plants treatment units, clarifiers were shown to be inoperable, and aeration units showed abnormal coloration, and effluent appeared cloudy with visible “sludge blankets.”
Of other concern was the potential for contamination this could cause downstream on the Sequatchie River. A log jam just downstream from the plant’s outfall was obstructing water flow.
Photo Courtesy TDEC Report
TDEC officials state in the report that, “Solids observed throughout the plant could potentially accumulate between Pikeville STP’s outfall and the log jam due to obstructed flow. Access to the outfall was difficult due to dense vegetation between Pikeville STP’s perimeter fence and the Sequatchie River.”
The Mayor must now submit a written response to the division within 30 days of receiving the report detailing the corrective actions to be taken. Other reports by the department missing are due by today (July 15, 2025).
The city broke ground last September on a new state-of-the-art $18.7 million dollar wastewater treatment plant, however construction was expected to take two years to complete and this violation is in reference to the municipalities existing treatment plant.
