Sue Sitter/PCT Jim Uhlman, an engineer with North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality, shows city officials equipment for collecting wastewater on Jan. 21 at city hall.

A panel of city officials reviewed a presentation on wastewater testing for COVID-19 by an official from the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality on Jan. 21 at city hall.

Jim Uhlman, an environmental engineer with the department, provided information on wastewater sample collection procedures for COVID testing and showed the panel a device used for collection.

The informal panel consisted of Rugby mayor Susan Steinke, Public Works Committee chair Dave Bednarz and city engineer Jim Olson, who asked about the reliability of the collection process to track or predict COVID outbreaks in the city. City auditor Jennifer Stewart and Public Works employee Troy Munyer also attended the meeting and asked questions.

Uhlman said the presence of the COVID virus in wastewater would provide valuable information to health facilities and city government to help them decide on strategies to combat surges in the number of infections.

Uhlman noted the information collected would be impossible to trace to one household or facility in the city because “we’re sampling right before the point (the wastewater) goes into the lagoons. There’s no way it can be traced back to any (individual).”

Steinke expressed concern that the data collected would simply tell officials what they already knew about case numbers, since COVID testing and tracking has been underway in the city for more than a year.

Uhlman said while the data would provide a useful snapshot for infection levels in one period, “Down the road when, God forbid, things get worse, when test data becomes available, we have this information. We know how many hospitalizations we have but we don’t know how many infected people we have in this community.” Uhlman said the data from wastewater collection would prove to be a useful tool for tracking the level of infections in the community.

Steinke noted when N.D. district 14 representative Jon Nelson mentioned the testing program at the city council’s regular meeting on Jan. 3, he gave her the impression the data could predict COVID outbreaks.

Uhlman said the data would more likely match the number of individual infections documented by health officials.

“We were pitched this (with the idea) that this was going to give us a four or five day window in advance of any surge,” Steinke said. “That’s what Jon Nelson said at the meeting. And you’re telling me that (the window) is sometimes the case, but it more so mirrors what’s actually going on. So, I’m not sure the predictability benefit is really there. It’s certainly not there in the greatest percentage of information, at least not from what you said today.”

“If there was predictability that was nearly 100 percent and I could bank on that, then I’d see more value in the program,” Steinke said of the data. “But when it mirrors, nearly matches (COVID numbers released by local testing sites), then I see less value. It’s just confirming what’s happening in (real-time) as people are coming down with COVID and getting tested and recording the cases.”

The panel also asked about the collection process and protective gear for workers collecting samples.

Uhlman said workers should use the same protection they use when they handle raw sewage. He also said workers would not likely come into contact with raw sewage due to the equipment design, which features a battery powered siphon system with hoses and a collection jug. Workers would place the jug in a shipping container and send the jug to a testing site at North Dakota State University by courier.

Steinke asked about the city’s role in releasing test results to the public. “I don’t think the city wants the liability of being responsible for the (release of) information. (The public) should be able to access it on their own and make decisions on their own based on (the information),” she said.

Uhlman said the department could make the information available to community health providers such as LRDU and Heart of America Medical Center.

“It mainly goes to the health department, then the health department does their incident command and information is disseminated that way,” Uhlman said.

“I just don’t want the city to be the responsible party (for delivering information on test results),” Steinke said.

Steinke said facilities in the community such as the hospital and corrections center “need to make their own decisions on how they run their own businesses, not based on this information given to the city.”

Uhlman said federal COVID relief and state health department grants funded the program. Although the program relies on city workers to collect samples, it provides cities the data at no charge. Uhlman said some N.D. cities are already participating in the program.

Munyer asked whether the virus could travel through the air by winds over the lagoons. Uhlman said there were no recorded cases of infection that way. Munyer also noted the water in the lagoons gave off steam on cold winter days and asked if the vapor could carry the virus. Uhlman said there were no known cases of that happening.

Steinke and Bednarz pointed out Rugby had fewer public works employees than larger cities. Smaller staff numbers meant workers collecting samples might possibly come into contact with city water plant employees, which would possibly risk contamination of the city’s drinking water.

“We’re small. The five people we have (in public works) are back and forth from the shop to the water plant throughout the day,” Steinke said.

The panel decided to discuss the program further at the next regular Rugby City Council meeting, to be held on Feb. 7 at 7:30 p.m. at city hall.