Battle is brewing in South Jordan over sewage pump

A battle is brewing in South Jordan over a sewage pump that residents say will sour their home values.

A group of more than 200 residents are fuming about the South Valley Sewer District's plans to build a sewer pump near their upscale neighborhood along the Jordan River. The residents have successfully filed an appeal that will be considered by the City Council, but district and city representatives say there's probably nowhere else for the pump to go.

South Jordan sold the one-acre potential pump property to the district two years ago, knowing what it would be used for, but city manager Rick Horst says the city didn't have much choice.

"Utilities have the right to take the land whether the city wants them to or not," Horst said. "We sold it to them to have conditions to protect the concerns the people have, to make sure there is no noise and no smell and it looks nice. Otherwise, we could have said no, and they could have gotten it through condemnation anyway."

South Jordan's planning commission approved a conditional-use permit for the pump about two weeks ago — to little fanfare. Fourteen homes received letters to inform residents of the meeting, but the issue wasn't clearly explained, residents say.

"I assumed it had something to do with a water pump," resident Megan Jarrett said of the city's meeting. "I didn't realize it was going to be a sewage pump. I thought it would be something that would help."

The sewer district is accustomed to being seen as unsavory. Board members of the district even voted recently to transition the district's name to something more subtle, and decided to call themselves the Jordan Basin Improvement District instead.

District manager Craig White says the pump needs to be built in South Jordan because that's where most of the district's pipes converge. Without the pump, the district can't meet the ultimate buildout needs of the south end of the valley, White says. Moving the pump further south wouldn't give the district enough gravity, and moving it further north would give it too much pressure, White says.

"No matter where we put it, somebody won't want it in their back yard," White said. "This is the most cost-effective location."