Thread by @utilityreporter

In 1999, a developer near Phoenix opened a sewer plant without approval from @ArizonaDEQ, but the state didn’t stop him because, you know, development. Customers will pay millions for the things that subsequently went wrong. We’re talking rate hikes through 2038. Thread/

The developer, George Johnson, then built sewer lines against gravity that would persistently spill raw sewage in the street. 78 times in one 8-year stretch.

An engineer for Johnson was even caught lying to the state, saying the plant was done when it wasn’t. And state enviro regulators were concerned with the way the plant was built, but they let it operate anyway.

An engineer who worked for DEQ told me he was dismayed the state never took stronger action. “Those people that do it right have good economies and it's a nice place to live. But there are other places where poop flows out on the ground."

For nearly 20 years Johnson Utilities would plague residents of the area from Queen Creek to Florence. Here's a picture of the violation records from the two most troublesome of its four plants:

But worse than the sewer spills, and effluent flooding golf courses and the Queen Creek wash, and constant odor complaints, was that the system wouldn’t have enough fresh water at times to serve customers.

Why not? Johnson family took $8 million+ each year out of the company through a shell company. That money might have been better spent on water purification, or more wells, (or actual weed killer instead of goats at the treatment plant).

The money also might have been spent hauling sewage sludge out of the “notorious” Section 11 plant. Here’s a picture of tractors doing that long overdue work in 2019 under a different manager

Now the system is owned and operated by @EPCORUSA. Just replacing the Section 11 plant that @ArizonaDEQ allowed to open without authorization is going to cost $50 million. Total repairs estimated at $138 million.

Spoiler alert, customers get to pay for things utilities spend money on.

The state settled a $100 million lawsuit with Johnson Utilities and its shell company with $0 penalties. @ArizonaDEQ says selling to EPCOR, which agreed to fix the issues, plus some savings for customers, made it a square deal.

A pending rate hike could cost $12 a month, and another in 2023 could be $12 a month. So before adding any other expenses, customers likely to see bills $24/month higher thanks to Johnson Utilities & @ArizonaDEQ.

One of the craziest things about this story is what we left out for space, like the time Johnson cut off water service to rural customers using a standpipe, or when the company flooded a golf course with effluent, creating new water hazards.

But to be sure, the details we did include are worth a read, especially if you care about how Arizona environmental regulators perform at their job.

This story is in print today in The Arizona Republic. Subscribers can read the full story at AZCentral.com, and nonsubscribers can get a 3-month pass here for $1 cm.azcentral.com/specialoffer/

Full story
azcentral.com/story/money/bu…