Wastewater plant blackout
causes a stink
Technician says facility has problems,
city says they're being addressed

ABOVE: The three primary screw pumps rotate wastewater into the Gallup water treament facility Thursday afternoon. The plant is slated for a number of improvements, including replacing the screw pumps, as part of a project to help reduce the odors that some Gallup residents have complained about. BELOW: One of the secondary clarifiers slowly stirs the wastewater in its tank Thursday at the Gallup Waste Water Treatment Plant. The plant is scheduled to begin upgrades to its equipment, including replacing the primary screw pumps and adding more clarifiers. [photos by Jeff Jones / Independent]

By Kevin Killough
Staff writer

GALLUP — The problem-plagued wastewater treatment plant had a large spill when the power went out last week. According to Wastewater Technician Arcenio Chavez, it’s not the first time.

“We’re constantly getting power outages out there,” Chavez said. “These are the types of things we need to address.”

According to Chavez, the plant was incapable of processing the waste coming into the plant. Raw sewage backed up and spilled out over the grounds and into the Rio Puerco River.

Chavez said the electrical problems are indicative of an ongoing policy of neglect on the part of the city.

“Lance isn’t doing a damn thing about it,” Chavez explained, referring to Executive Director of Gallup Joint Utilities Lance Allgood.

Allgood acknowledges that it’s not the first time that there’s been a power outage at the plant, but he denies that they occur with the frequency Chavez describes.

”I wouldn’t use the term ‘often,’” Allgood said.

Allgood said that the city isn’t sure what caused the most current outage, but he suspects lightning, which has been the culprit in the past. The public was never in any danger, and the mess only took a couple days to clean up, he said.

Chavez has been vocal in his complaints about the wastewater treatment plant ever since he showed up at a City Hall meeting and spoke on the issues. He accuses the city of under funding the plant, not providing it with the staff it needs, not providing needed training, questionable safety practices, mismanagement and environmental violations.

Allgood has said that he’s aware that there are problems, but the city is doing everything it can to address the issues and keep the plant running. He has also denied that there are any serious violations and said the city is actively seeking more employees, providing training, and adding new equipment at the plant.