Judge Wingate held a status update on the Jackson water system that lasted all day yesterday. Much was discussed, including JXN Water's proposed rate hike. Instead of publishing one monster post, JJ is going to break yesterday's proceedings into some manageable bites by topic.
The city of Jackson spent over $10 million on renting pumps for the Savannah Street treatment when purchasing a new one only costs $4 million. Such revelations occurred during the status conference on Jackson's water/sewer system held yesterday in the courtroom of U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate.
Judge Wingate questioned the rental: "What is the rationale for renting pumps at that huge cost instead of seeking to buy them outright on a payment plan?" "The rental decisions do not make sense," said Mr. Henifin.
The Water/Sewer Receiver spoke in the plural. The belt presses at the treatment plant failed over a decade ago as well. Belt presses remove water from sludge and turn it into a "cake." Jackson rented the presses at $28,000 a month (annual cost of $336,000). The city again could have saved money by purchasing instead of leasing. Several belt presses were behind the grand but had been there so long that grass covered them up. JXN Water studied having them rebuilt but it was not feasible.
Mr. Henifin said the pump rentals will soon be a thing of the past as a brand spanking new pump will be installed at a cost of $4 million in February. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers funding will cover 75% of the cost, leaving JXN Water to cough up $1 million.
The Receiver said he is working with Jacobs Engineering to purchase three new belt presses (Includes a backup). The estimate is $6 million to purchase. Mr. Henifin said if maintained, belt presses should last twenty years. JXN Water is obtaining a MDEQ loan to pay for the presses as the Congressional appropriation can only be spent on the water system.
Mr. Horhn was not pleased with the decision to rent. "Someone obviously didn't crunch the numbers. We could've bought those pumps two times over with the money we paid to lease them. Unless they offered an extraordinary care and maintenance contract as part of the lease, a more prudent decision might have been reached," said the Mayor to this correspondent.
The news was not all bad yesterday. Mr. Henfin said the city suffered from 215 sanitary sewer overflows when he took over the system in 2023. JXN Water fixed all 215 SSO's within one year as it cleaned lines, lined pipes, and made other repairs. "We fixed them all in less than 15 months," said Mr. Henifin.
The news was a far cry from May 2023 when City Attorney Tory Martin told Judge Wingate it would take up to three years to repair the SSO's. Mr. Henifin said "
Mr. Henifin also provided an update on a major sewer pump failure on Mill Street. A bypass line is used but leaks into an adjacent storm drain emptying into Town Creek. It will cost $6 million to repair.
Dumping grease into the system is still a problem. Judge Wingate recommended fining restaurants who do so as well as repeat residential offenders. One humorous moment occurred when Judge Wingate said when he explained to people why they should not pour grease down the sink, they would later tell him they stopped doing it and were instead flushing their grease. Hence the Court suggested a public education campaign to fight such contamination.
Mr. Henifin said Jackson's sewer system rated a 2 or 3 on a scale of 10 when he assumed control. He said it is now a "6 or 7" but there is a long way to go, adding it could take up to ten years to "get it to a 10." Although it is tenuous keeping "a sewer system together, we are proud of where we are," said the Receiver.
37 comments:
To the idiot in the last comment section that said "paying the contractors is unafordable" what do you have to say about this:
>The city of Jackson spent over $10 million on renting pumps for the Savannah Street treatment when purchasing a new one only costs $4 million.
Thank you, Ted Henifin! Thank you, Mayor Horhn! Refreshing to hear some damn common sense. Seems like somebody's pockets were filled from those rentals. Investigate!
This thing called Jackson never ceases to amaze-
The COJ "sanitary" disposal system is killing the Pearl River.
Why the EPA or a public interest environmental group has not brought suit is beyond me.
What is.... this thing...... called.......
Wingate needs to subpoena former Directors and PW employees to discuss the Water and Wastewater Management decisions to get some truth. Ted has done some good, but we are only hearing his side. I think this will give some vision on how to move forward.
Was there any mention of how long it would have taken to purchase and install new pumps when the city had a huge water emergency on its hands? Perhaps temporary rental was the best option to get your faucets flowing and your toilets flushing.
There is more to the story about the “hole in the top of the interceptor”. But if Ted knows the history, he’s not telling it. There is probably no one left at the City that knows what went down 15-20 years ago.
Yes, now emerging is the apologists who can't get it through their thick skulls that the Lumumba administration was one top-to-bottom collection of gross managerial incompetence.
Truly incredible picture KF.
Not news to some of us, but recognize that the media never covered this ineptness on the part of the past administration. Same could be said about the multiple bypass pumps the city 'rented' (granted, for a couple of years they didn't pay the monthly rental fee - just as they weren't paying any of their other bills) instead of fixing the problem causing the need for a bypass.
These Savannah Street pumps were questioned years ago to no avail, just as the lack of operating belt presses (remember the massive contract offered to on Socrates, but withdrawn and Partridge got the contract for hauling the sludge away?) And the failure to fix the sludge removal process at the Curtis plant causing them to dump the water treatment sludge into the sewer system resulting in the overflow fountain in the middle of the fairway at Jackson Country Club - and then millions of dollars spent to remove the built-up sludge from the sewer lines?
Yes - instead of fixing anything, they patched and rented thinking a monthly expense forever was better than a one-time expenditure to fix the problem.
Kinda like the leak at the zoo that went unfixed resulting in millions of dollars built up for an unpaid water bill.
Ted didn’t mention the catastrophe failure of the West Bank at Hanging Moss Creek. Where is that picture? And when did he know that the failure was eminent?
And that Mill Street sewer issue should have been solved by now.
Sewage overflowed out of a manhole cover for years on my street. City said it couldn’t be fixed. Henifin fixed it.
10:40, Why don't you just tell us, instead of being coy about it?
It's a lot easier for fuel to go missing from all these temporary pumps!
A picture is worth 1000 words... What a third-world patch job! Is that sewage being pumped into the Pearl River?
@10:55 the photograph is a visual representation of Lumumba's team and the sewage hole, well that is Antard himself.
There will never be enough revenue to repair, replace and restore all equipment. And on top of that is the annual operating expenses. Nobody is talking about the fact that the City of Jackson cannot afford water and sewer services - the plants have too much capacity for the reduced population and the demographics (below the poverty line) cannot support the necessary rates.
Savannah Wastewater Treatment Plant. Northwest Corner.
"Are people eating fish out of the Pearl?", Wingate should ask during SNAP-out.
We (JxnWater customers) are paying the price for 8 years of Chokwe's incompetence.
11:03. Sludge did not cause the backup on the country club.
11:31. The 108” interceptor was slip lined 15-20 years ago. This is where the “hole”is. Pumps were used when the lift station was rehabilitated. But yes they have needed a new 100MGD pump in the lift station to handle inflow during rain events.
While it is funny that they stopped pouring grease down the drain, and started pouring it down the toilet. It's really not. It's even more sad that a class will need to be held to explain to these idiots why you DON'T pour grease down the drain or toilet. We allow these people to vote, drive and reproduce. And they wonder why they don't have anything nice. To stupid to know better.
When someone says a maintenance task would take three years to do, that's a sign that they just don't want to do it.
I remember when there was a pump for dang near a year pumping sewer at the road by Mercedes of Jackson and smelly pipes stretched across the sales lot near Mr Chens.
Albeit they were land locked
- but they got the heck out of that literal crap show.
So glad they moved.
1:35, You seem to know what you’re talking about. If you get time, I’d appreciate an explanation of what happened. I don’t know what “slip lined” means, or its implications.
Thanks,
11:31
Commenter @ 11:56am on Nov 6th For The WIN !!!
I feel like Henefin is serving steak but we can only afford beans.
Quit deep frying food and do light sautees in a nonstick pan, instead. Then no grease issues. Grease rendered from offset grilling a brisket or pork shoulder butt into a foil pan, under the grate, can be buried with the wood ashes and charcoal ashes from the same slow cooking project.
Paying more for less, the way of the democrat.
KF. Is that a current photo of the pump setup? If so, why is so many pumping into the stabilization pond and not directly into the plant?
This is a response to the first comment at November 6, 2025 at 9:58 AM, you can just call me "idiot in the last comment section". To answer your question "in the last comment section", I know that because I read Kingfish's reporting on Oct 31 titled Will Judge Wingate Cripple JXN Water? which had the information in it. Kingfish might be wrong, but I doubt it. He listed 4 contractors currently owed $22 million. Then there is the chart showing upcoming expenses. Then I read the 64 page court filing that was included.
You do know JXN Water doesn't employ but a few people, right? ALL the work is done by contractors. Math is math. The population of Jackson might not be able to afford what Henefin is setting up. Who provides your water? I've dealt with JXN Water and it is run like a profit-making enterprise, instead of a public benefit entity. So, again, back to my original premise, has anybody seen any contracts or requests for bids? If not, why not?
In regards to the $10 million leasing vs $4 million purchase, I would immediately fire the person or persons responsible without hesitation.
“It’s all pipes!”.
- George Lewis Costanza
11:56am
How can these same impoverished peasants, who don't pay their Water bills, afford Rent or Mortgage, Cars, Car tags/tax, Gasoline, TV/Internet service, Phone service, natural Gas and Electricity? How? Because there are prompt, severe cutoffs or repossessions if they don't pay.
Once Lumumba's administration gave them a pass, the 'indigent' freeloaders came to expect free Water. Hennifin structured the water billing such that some people pay more than the self described too poor to pay. Yet every other cost of above listed services are the same for all.
Hennifin needs to sell Water for the same price to all and disconnect non-paying accounts, quickly.
Whoa. Yarber started the moratorium. Lumumba abolished but brought it back during Covid and didn't stop it.
KF thanks for the clarification. My point remains that once non-payers were accommodated, they felt entitled. A more relevant codicil to my point, however, is that renters of apartments did pay their landlords for water but the crooked out of state owner-managers pocketed the water money, in delinquent accounts reaching millions of dollars, as you have amply documented.
Henifin has already suggested that 100% collections won't make the systems solvent. The 12% rate increase is necessary to make the bond payments. As Receiver, it's his job to make sure the COJ does not default on it's debt.
"Are people eating fish out of the Pearl?" Not sure how true it is but I've been told that fish caught by the Pearl at the spillway is consumed. even heard some made it's way to local restaurants.
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