By Greg Grisolano

ggrisolano@joplinglobe.com

WEBB CITY, Mo. — Webb City’s public works department received a thumbs-up from an Environmental Protection Agency inspector during an unannounced visit last week.

“I think it turned out pretty good,” said Lou Gutheil, public works director. “His comment to us was that in comparison to other cities Webb City’s size, we’re doing a pretty good job.”

Gutheil said the EPA inspector arrived in town Tuesday to inspect the city’s sewer lines and lift stations. He said the agency inspected maintenance logs, procedural guidelines and monitored zinc levels in the water system.

Gutheil said the inspector recommended the department improve its documentation of maintenance and field repair work. A final report from the EPA on the visit is expected next month.

A spokesman for the EPA’s Region 7 office in Kansas City said the mining history of the Four-State Area makes heavy metals such as zinc and lead potential “contaminants of concern” for water supplies.

“You can go to your family physician and they will tell you that zinc is a necessary nutrient, and it is at a certain level,” said EPA spokesman Chris Whitley. “But like a lot of things in this world, too much of it is not a good thing. And you certainly don’t want too much of it in your water system.”

Gutheil said that independently of the EPA inspection, the city has already raised several manholes to avoid runoff filtering into the system. He said the city has also contracted with Ace Pipe Cleaning of Kansas City to monitor and reduce inflow in sewer lines. The city council budgeted $125,000 for those procedures.

“It’s nice that when (the EPA) come to town to do an inspection like this, and you’ve got a company like Ace Pipe in town,” he said. “It lets them know we’re serious about what we’re doing.”

Crews from Ace Pipe have installed closed-circuit TV cameras in certain pipes to monitor for cracks. Gutheil said the company is also contracted to provide no-dig repairs to problem areas.

“It’s like doing an angioplasty in a sewer system,” he said. “You put a sleeve in the pipe and now you don’t have any cracks.”