BURLEY, Idaho — Burley's industrial wastewater treatment plant, which is more than 50 years old, needs to be replaced, and federal money could help pay for the first phase of upgrades.
Brett Boyer, the Burley city administrator, said the project has been one of the most challenging he has worked on.
"This is probably been one of the hardest projects that I've had to work on, and this is what that if we can get accomplished will be a big win for the community of Burley in the area," Boyer said.
The plant's age and condition are at the center of the effort to secure funding and address ongoing environmental concerns. The plant treats wastewater from three agricultural producers, two make dairy products and one processes potatoes. But the plant has no further capacity to expand, and its age presents some big problems.
"The current plant has generally reached the end of its life and needs to be replaced and so that's what we're working on and that's what we're talking about," Boyer said.
This past spring, we reported how a citizens group filed a lawsuit against the city of Burley over pollution in the Snake River. Will Tidemann from the Idaho Conservation League said the organization was encouraged to file the lawsuit after reviewing hundreds of violations over the last five years.
"By the EPAs own kind of methodology you're looking at hundreds of days of noncompliance," Tidemann said.
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The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality has since taken over the Idaho Conservation League's lawsuit. According to the Idaho Conservation League, this typically results in a settlement that is agreeable to the municipality.
Tidemann said improvements will need to be sustained before the situation can be considered resolved.
"Until you see a year maybe two years of none or significantly less amount of violations it may not be the case that anything's changed," Tidemann said.
Boyer said he could not discuss the legal aspects surrounding the plant but did address the cost of replacing it.
"We were looking at over $100 million for the entire project which is really more than we can afford," Boyer said.
In 2024, Representative Mike Simpson earmarked $20 million for the project. Congress approved the funding, but it has not yet been appropriated.
More recently, in May this year, Simpson announced $2 million for planning and construction of the first phase of the new plant is included in the Army Corp of Engineers 2026 Work Plan
The money will pay for the design and construction of the first phase of upgrades, which could begin as soon as next year.
This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been, in part, converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
