Contractor Breaks Ground on Fayetteville Wastewater Plant

After years of delays, contractors finally broke ground Friday, on a new wastewater treatment plant in Fayetteville. As 15 shovels pierced the earth, a healthy crowd of onlookers pinched themselves to see if this day was truly happening. Kyle Cook, Chair Water & Sewer Committee- "Longtime coming." Its been almost 5 years since Fayetteville voters approved a 3/4 cent sales tax to pay for the $60 million wasterwater treatment plant on Broyles Road. The plan has hit a few setbacks along the way. Mayor Dan Coody: "It`s taken awhile for the engineering to get done." Kyle Cook: "Partly its been the permitting process." But now, city officials say they`re ready to make some real progress and keep up with all the growth on the westside of the city. Coody: "This is going to be a state of the art plant. We`re very excited about it and it will keep our rivers and streams clean." So clean, in fact, the Oklahoma Scenic Rivers Commission has endorsed the project. They know the plant will discharge clean water into the Oklahoma River. Although construction has begun, some city officials say the real work lies ahead. Cook: "It`s the first step but we`ve got along way to go. We still have to get it out of the ground and we`ve got to get it operational. And we still need to get it in on time." Brasfield and Gorrie Contractors, based out of Birmingham Alabama, say the plant can be completed in about 30 months around June 2008.