BELLE — The city of Belle received a ‘Letter of Warning” from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR)on June 5 addressed to City Clerk Frankie Horstman regarding the …
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BELLE — The city of Belle received a ‘Letter of Warning” from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR)on June 5 addressed to City Clerk Frankie Horstman regarding the city’s lack of a certified operator to oversee the public water systems.
According to the letter, “The city of Belle PWS (public works system) is required to have an operator certified at the DS-II distribution level or higher. The Missouri Department of Natural Resources records indicate that your system does not have an operator certified at this level and is therefore in violation of Missouri Safe Drinking Water Regulation 10 CSR.”
DNR also outlined consequences for not becoming compliant.
“Failure to obtain a properly certified operator may result in the Department taking further enforcement action against your water system, which may include referral to the Water Protection Program, Public Drinking Water Branch, Compliance and Enforcement Unit for appropriate injunctive relief and collection of monetary penalties.”
DNR suggests that if the city has someone interested in completing the required training they contact the Water Protection Program’s Public Drinking Water Branch.
“If you do not have a properly certified operator, your public water system may choose to have an employee obtain operator certification through the Department or you may enter into a contractual agreement with a certified operator to maintain your water system,” DNR wrote in the letter.
City employees who wish to be certified are required to submit a corrective action plan to the Water Protection Program’s Public Drinking Water Branch for review and approval.
“The plan must be written and signed by a person of authority and dated. The plan must include the name of the person to be certified, position and affiliation with the public water system, and a schedule for when the employee will take the certification exam,” the letter continued.
The city recently hired three two-full time public works employees, but neither had been assigned a start date as of Monday afternoon. A third park maintenance/public works employee began working on May 19 as a temp and was later hired full-time.
The letter was included in the June 13 board packet for aldermen to review and discuss the next step.
