The city of Tieton is moving to take over operation of the Cowiche sewer plant as soon as the next few weeks.

The plant's contract operator, meanwhile, suggests the city is overreacting.

The Cowiche Sewer District owns the sewage plant, which serves the Tieton and Cowiche areas, including the local packing plants.

The district has been without commissioners since they all resigned last spring.

Tieton Mayor Stan Hall and county officials say that means there's nobody to make major decisions about the district, although a staff member is authorized to pay the regular bills.

Under the agreement between Tieton and the sewer district, Tieton can choose to take over operations under emergency circumstances.

Hall informed his City Council this week that he had sent the sewer district a letter stating he plans to do so.

Hall said the move would allow him to legally run the plant, including deciding what to do with sludge accumulating from wastewater treatment.

There is, however, disagreement on the severity of the sludge backing up.

In a letter to the state Department of Ecology, Yakima County officals late last month requested a $25,000 grant to pay for sludge removal.

The county's public services director, Vern Redifer, suggested the sludge could overflow into Cowiche Creek as soon as the middle of this month.

The plant's operator, Joe Schons, said other options will extend the plant's capacity if needed, such as drying the sludge on site.

Schons, who said no emergency exists, suggested that Tieton wants to wrest control of the plant from the sewer district.

Hall rejects that idea, saying he will return operations once new sewer commissioners are in office.

Because no one filed for election to fill the vacancies, a special filing period is scheduled for Aug. 26-28. Anyone who files will appear on the Nov. 3 general election ballot.

Joe Trepanier, one of the sewer commissioners who resigned, said he expects to file. Several other district residents have also expressed interest, sewer district officials say.

The state Auditor's Office recently issued a report faulting Trepanier and two other previous commissioners for failing to comply with loan requirements and public meeting laws.

Trepanier said that the district had money set aside to make the loan payments, but it was not in the right kind of account because commissioners weren't aware of that requirement. That problem was fixed.

Additionally, minutes that should have been kept from district meetings disappeared when an auditing officer resigned, he said. The state cited missing or incomplete minutes as the other key issue discovered in the audit.

* Mark Morey can be reached at 509-577-7671 or mmorey@yakimaherald.com.