The Star - News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area

You may notice some greenery missing from the drive along SR-155 near the north end of Grand Coulee in the future.

About 30 pine trees near Grand Coulee’s wastewater treatment facility on the north side of the road will be removed due to issues caused by the trees for the facility.

The trees pose a risk of damage to the facility if they or their limbs fall onto equipment. Already, tree debris such as needles and cones have fallen into the facility and clogged up pipes and the like.

According to Assistant Treatment Plant Operator Travis Irwin in a document provided to The Star, if a branch were to float into the oxidation ditch there is a high probability of the branch damaging rotors that oxidate the water, essential to the operation of the plant.

Fine screens designed to keep out anything over three-eighths-of-an-inch could also be damaged. 

Biochemical Oxygen Demand sampling machines also risk being damaged and are expensive to replace.

“During the last windstorm, the top of a tree, about 12 feet, broke off and landed within a few feet of the effluent BOD sampling equipment,” Irwin explained.

Additionally, “pine needles and pinecones are consistently plugging the clarifier flow tube, pipes and valves. When the pinecones get wedged in a valve, the valve must be taken apart, cleaned out and inspected for damage.”

“We have had to replace a few valves over the years,” Irwin continued. “There have been water leaks that when dug up and repaired, looked to be caused by large roots of these trees putting pressure against a pipe and cracking it.”

“Removing these trees is a great preventative measure to the likelihood of expensive repairs and potential public health issues down the road,” Irwin wrote.

Irwin said the state Department of Ecology agrees it is best to remove the trees and not have such hazards around a treatment plant.

The Grand Coulee City Council, after several months of discussing the issue, approved on August 17 to accept a bid from Skyline Tree Service of Spokane to remove the trees for a total of $25,300.

Half of that cost will be paid for by Electric City, which shares the facility with Grand Coulee. 

Grand Coulee is using money the city received from the American Rescue Plan to pay their share, with costs associated with infrastructure related to water and sewer being an acceptable use.

Electric City will likely use money from their sewer fund for the costs, City Clerk Peggy Nevsimal said. 

Skyline’s low bid was accepted over a $34,000 bid from Greenleaf Landscaping and a $70,000 bid from Double Black Diamond Tree Service.

Additionally, a tree will be removed from Grand Coulee City Park for another $3,800, also by Skyline Tree Service.

“The tree in the park is beginning to damage the foundation of the restroom and infiltrating the water lines,” City Clerk Lorna Pearce explained.

Pearce said replacing the trees with a less problematic type of greenery has not been discussed.