By Tracy Overstreet
tracy.overstreet@theindependent.com

A Feb. 16, 1972, article in The Independent detailed a similar fish kill the weekend of Feb. 12, 1972.

"All the fish in the Wood River to the Platte were killed," the article stated. "Included were carp, bass, catfish and bluegill."

That article and others in March 1972 detailed that 50,000 fish were killed across eight miles of the Wood River. The cause was deemed to be low levels of dissolved oxygen in the water after "shock loads" of waste came to the city's waste treatment plant from the neighboring meatpacking company then named Swift & Co.

Alfred E. Rasmussen, Grand Island's public works director in 1972, said the city's wastewater treatment plant, built in 1965, had been asked to handle 33,461 pounds of suspended solids when the plant had a capacity of 24,000 pounds.

"Shock loads give us fits," from Swift, Rasmussen was quoted as saying.

T.A. Filipi, head of the 1971-formed State Department of Environmental Control, said the loads caused discharges into the Wood River that were "five times as strong as the stream can handle."

Thirty-six years later, the names and numbers have changed, but the headlines of "fish kills" "waste plant needs" and "shock loads" from Swift seem to stay the same.

Independent articles refer to similar fish kills in fall 1971, December 1976, and more recent kills in private lakes in 2004 and the most recent kill of more than 10,000 fish in 24 miles of waterways including the city's outfall ditch, Wood River and Platte River the weekend following a March 28 overload of discharges.

"Isn't that a shame?" said Grand Island Mayor Margaret Hornady. "It's just a shame."

The discharge problems in the 1970s led to Swift's addition of a sedimentation basin and a wastewater plant upgrade in 1980. Growing residential water usage with conveniences such as dishwashers, garbage disposals and automatic car washes were noted as reasons to expand the city's plant along with increasing industrial use.

Dealing with sewage issues primarily related to the meatpacker, known as Swift, Monfort, ConAgra and JBS Swift over the years, have been common duties in the past for Grand Island mayors and city administration.

The meatpacking plant currently has some 2,700 employees and is Grand Island's largest employer.

Former City Attorney Keith Sinor said the meatpacking company had just 300 employees when he started his 15-year city career in 1980.

"The treatment of sewage was always an issue and they (Swift) were always the biggest customer," Sinor said.

Sinor recalled sludge from the treatment plant, the plant's lagoons, and "air quality" being the most common challenges for the city.

The city upped the waste water plant capacity again in 1995.

Odor issues led to a community meeting that drew more than 200 people in 2000. The city ultimately created the "odor hotline" and along with then Monfort and later ConAgra set out to revamp sewage lagoons and reduce smells.

"There were a lot of air quality issues that came up often," Sinor said, "with the lagoon and treatment plant."

"Indeed, the odor issue was involved," said former Mayor Jay Vavricek. "Swift was very good to work with and obviously the city had an obligation to modernize its facilities to address that. That occurred."

"The former ownership was very forthcoming, cooperative," Vavricek said, noting he was satisfied with the ongoing dialogue with Swift officials. "They made a substantial investment in their plant to be supportive of being a good neighbors."

But Hornady, a member of the city council before advancing to the mayor's chair, said those improvements haven't always come quickly or easily.

"Over the past number of years, we've been promised and nothing has happened," Hornady said.

She was frank with Swift officials this week as they promised new pumps, air flotation devices, grit screens and equipment to pump oxygen into discharges.

"I told them, 'You'll have to forgive me and the council and the city if we're just a little bit skeptical about whether we're getting a pat on the hand and as soon as we're out of your hair, it's business as usual,'" she said.

Hornady said they were well aware of past promises, but stressed the company is under new ownership now with JBS Swift, which wants to do things right.

"I felt they were sincere and I felt they were on top of it technically," Hornady. "So I'm feeling good about it right now."

So with JBS Swift and the city both racking up a string of five violation notices since August 2007 from the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality, will all the problems get fixed this time?

"Obviously, I can't guarantee that," Hornady said. "I'm not so naive to suppose that people couldn't be trying to mollify me and the administration and the staff and the whole town again.

"I will say I didn't feel that way when we had our conference with Swift, but I'm not so innocent to suppose that it couldn't happen," she said.

"So help me if it has happened, I will turn that valve and I will seek whatever legal recourse we have," Hornady said. "It wouldn't be to their advantage to overload again."