North Pole eyes $20 million for wastewater treatment facility

Monday, Dec 01, 2008

The city of North Pole is eyeing a pricey construction project on the horizon and is looking to the state for help getting started.

Mayor Doug Isaacson said the city needs to rebuild its wastewater treatment plant in the next few years.

The plant processes a mix of 500,000 gallons of industrial waste from North Pole’s major commercial tenant — the Flint Hills-owned oil refinery — and usual sewage every day. Isaacson said the plant is running well over capacity, and the city will need $20 million to build a new one sometime soon.

Isaacson is taking his pitch for help directly to Gov. Sarah Palin: He’s asking for $500,000 to analyze the plant and prepare the plan. Last week, he also publicly spotlighted North Pole as a much bigger player on the state’s economic playing field than its 1,600-person population base might suggest.

“It’s reaching its age limit,” he said of the 20-plus-year-old plant. “Things are breaking down.”

Isaacson linked the city’s proposed wastewater project with the need to support the business community. The Flint Hills refinery, which sits inside the city limits, supplies much of the state’s fuel needs. The refinery has reported it is having financial struggles and the owner is thinking of leaving or selling.

Jeff Cook, a spokesman for Flint Hills, noted the company would not have bought the refining plant had the city not supported industry through healthy and functioning infrastructure projects.

“We recognize that we are a major customer of the city of North Pole, and we’re certainly sensitive to the community improvements they have to make,” Cook said.

Isaacson said the city originally looked for new land on which to build, but it is now considering a rebuilding project on the plant’s existing site, which sits east of North Pole High School. He said he’ll continue to nudge state lawmakers to get money for the proposed project in next year’s statewide construction budget.

The Legislature will build a budget in the spring.

Isaacson noted a number of benefits to the state from the refinery. He said Flint Hills:

• provides all the jet fuel used at Fairbanks International Airport and half the fuel used at Anchorage’s Ted Stevens International Airport.

• provides 12,000 barrels a day of fuel to Golden Valley Electric Association’s electrical plants.