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Site disturbance causes work to stop on Whittier sewer project
By Justin Goble
After contractors disturbed a site deemed “archaeologically significant” by the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians, work at the long-anticipated Whittier sewer plant has come to a halt.
According to Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority Director Joe Cline, construction was stopped after the project’s contractor disturbed a parcel of land where Cherokee artifacts were found. TWSA is overseeing construction on the project, which will provide 250,000 gallons per day worth of sewage treatment capacity for the area.
While the disturbance did not cause any irreparable harm to the site, Cline said it was enough to bring work to a halt.
“Basically, right now there’s a ‘stop work’ order that came from the Department of Agriculture,” Cline said. “The contractor had placed some equipment on the site temporarily. His people had also been driving across it, according to what the tribe is saying.”
The plant is currently under construction at the Whittier Industrial Park off Thomas Valley Road. When choosing that site nearly a decade ago, officials said the industrial park was the best location since it already has a sewage discharge permit. However, during a 2003 archeological study of the site, pottery and other artifacts were found.
This created interest from the tribe’s Historical Office, which designated the site “archaeologically significant,” and that designation is backed by the Department of Agriculture. While allowing work to continue, the designation required officials to reduce the size of the complex from 3 acres to a quarter-acre.
Cline said the area labeled “significant” had been marked on construction plans, but the project’s contractor failed to block it off. Now members of the tribe are requesting that someone be on hand to monitor construction at all times to ensure there are no more mistakes.
Cline said he has been talking with the members of the tribe and the rest of the sanitary district’s stakeholders – Whittier Church of God Assembly and Jackson County officials – in an effort to resolve the issue.
“I think there’s a resolution to any problem,” Cline said. “I really think we can sit down and work through this situation. The contractor has put us in a delicate situation, and I understand the tribe’s stance. But my goal is to sit down with everyone involved and get some kind of understanding hammered out.
“We’d met a couple weeks ago, and I was informed that the tribal council agreed to pay to have someone monitor the site,” Cline said. “That should solve the problem, but the last I heard nothing had been signed. It’s keeping the contractor from excavating for the plant.”
The work stoppage has delayed completion of the project, which was set to be finished by the end of June, However, Cline said this isn’t the only factor pushing back the project’s completion.
“The contractor now thinks it will take until the middle of August to finish the plant,” Cline said. “All of the line work is done except for a small portion, so once the plant is done, everything will be ready to go and we’ll be able to provide sewer to people in the area. However, the contractor was behind schedule before a lot of this came up. How much this has delayed the work is something we haven’t been able to determine.”
Another concern this has brought to light is the lack of space for expansion, Cline said.
“I wanted to make sure the TWSA board knew what they were getting involved with, and I discussed it with them last month,” he said. “Now we know that the plant can never be expanded. The archaeological site goes right up against where the plant is being built. Based on conversations with our board, they’re willing to go on even though they can’t expand it.”
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