Officials signed a Project Partnership Agreement today to officially begin a streambank stabilization project on the Cumberland River that will prevent further bank erosion that currently endangers the Carthage Wastewater Treatment Plant.
With the stroke of a pen, Carthage Mayor Steve Babcock and Lt. Col. Robert Green, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District commander, established a cost share partnership between USACE and the town to initiate the project’s design and construction phases.
Green said that moving forward, USACE and the town of Carthage will work closely together to deliver the project’s betterments for the people, the citizens, that depend on this wastewater treatment plant.
Erosion is currently eating away at about 400 feet of the eastern streambank at Cumberland River mile 308. It is jeopardizing critical infrastructure, including a 150,000-gallon final digester tank and access road within the wastewater treatment plant. A plant failure or shut down would adversely affect the town and downstream communities, including vulnerable populations, and result in residents losing access to clean drinking water.
Carthage Mayor Steve Babcock said he very much appreciated representing the town at this ceremony, but he gave credit to former Mayor Sarah Marie Smith and the previous administration for initiating this project with the Corps of Engineers.
Babcock stressed that he is excited to partner with the Corps of Engineers, and looks forward to working together moving forward on this important project to protect the wastewater treatment plant.
The Continuing Authorities Program in Section 14 of the Flood Control Act of 1946 authorizes USACE to study, design, and construct emergency streambank and shoreline protection projects not specifically authorized by Congress to prevent damages to highways, bridge approaches, public works, churches, hospitals, schools, and other non-profit public services.
The Corps of Engineers recently completed a $100,000 Emergency Bank Stabilization Feasibility Study under the Continuing Authorities Program for the Carthage Water Treatment Plant location. The federal government funded 100% of this study, with $50,000 of it covered by an appropriation in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The project delivery team identified the problems, opportunities, objectives, and constraints to guide plan formulation and outline measures to prevent further erosion. The feasibility study identified that there is a federal interest in the resolution of this water resource problem under the Section 14 CAP authority.
Congressman John Rose, Tennessee District 6, who represents the town of Carthage in Washington, D.C., attended the signing ceremony and said this project is important because it’s emblematic of the way agencies like the Corps of Engineers can come together with local officials to get the job done.
Moving forward, Green said the Corps of Engineers is charged to design the project in consultation with the town of Carthage to determine methods required for construction, operation and maintenance of the project.
Following the ceremony, Ricky Brown, assistant supervisor of the Carthage Wastewater Treatment Plant, said he began working at the plant in 1997, and remembers when the embankment of the Cumberland River extended out further. Over the years erosion has claimed about five feet of the riverbank and drying beds that used to be in that location.
The public can obtain news, updates and information from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District on the district’s website at https://www.lrd.usace.army.mil/About/Districts/Nashville-District/, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/nashvillecorps and on X (formerly Twitter) at www.twitter.com/nashvillecorps. Follow us on LinkedIn for the latest Nashville District employment and contracting opportunities at https://www.linkedin.com/company/u-s-army-corps-of-engineers-nashville-district.
