No more Mama Lacona's?
Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2009 1:29 pm
Seems they might be forced to shut down due to some stupid law about grease. Actually, if this law starts to be enforced, it sounds like it could very well shut down most small, local joints. Then we are left with nothing but large, chain restaurants. FUCK THAT! This is bullshit.
The future of Mama Lacona's, an Urbandale restaurant with a 52-year history, is uncertain, in part because of an $80,000 renovation required to meet increasingly stringent federal environmental rules.
And the possible reopening of Buzzard Billy's in downtown Des Moines is in doubt.
The problem: grease.
Government regulators have told the restaurants they must install up to three 3,000-gallon underground tanks to collect fats and oils discarded as part of food preparation and cleanup.
Jim Lacona, one of the owners of the family restaurant, said: "Things are hard now anyway, but to throw this on me, it might end us. I don't know what to do."
The situation reflects the ongoing tension between environmental requirements that protect the public and businesses' needs to control costs to keep their doors open.
The environmental risks posed by grease are real: Clogs from restaurant grease can cause sewage to back into homes and other businesses. Mama Lacona's faces a $200 fine for allegedly causing such a sewer overflow in June.
But ever-steeper costs also mean fewer entrepreneurs can afford to open a small restaurant and also translate into higher expenses and meal prices for operations of all sizes.
At Mama Lacona's, besides the expense, the work would temporarily close the restaurant while contractors dig underneath the kitchen to install the collection tanks.
If restaurants fail to make improvements, it could jeopardize millions of dollars in federal grants allocated to Iowa and result in fines to governments as well as the restaurants.
If the improvements at Mama Lacona's are not made within a few months, local officials say they have little choice but to force the restaurant to close.
Buzzard Billy's likely will not be permitted to reopen until it installs the grease collectors, said Andy Massoth, an owner of the restaurant that closed last year after it was flooded.
Owners will decide within the next two months whether they will proceed toward reopening. Sewer costs are among the top considerations, Massoth said.
"We're all aware that we need to keep the grease out of the water, but when they put that code in place, it definitely killed a lot of chances for your smaller, ethnic, mom-and-pop places from opening," Massoth said.
Interviews with public officials across the state underscore that hundreds of other restaurants face similar decisions.
Generally, the requirements kick in for new construction or any food business that undertakes $50,000 or more in improvements. The costs are typically closer to $30,000 but can be more depending upon the topography and the facility's needs.
Businesses that fail to keep grease levels sent to sewer systems within legal limits, like Mama Lacona's, also can be forced to make the upgrades.
The tightening rules stem from a nearly 30-year-old federal law, enforced by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, that prohibits sewer overflows into waterways. The federal government's intensifying emphasis on the law in recent years has pushed cities and states across the nation to adopt stricter grease regulations, said Paul Marshall, a coordinator for the EPA.
The sewage-treatment agency serving the Des Moines area put its rules in place three years ago. Tighter regulations are expected to trickle down to all Iowa cities eventually.
"I think this is something that will happen everywhere," said John Dunn, director of the Ames Water and Pollution Control Department. His city has similar mandates to those in the Des Moines area.
The grease rules have caused a few businesses to close or never open in Davenport, said Bill Miller, a city plumbing inspector.
Annika Stensson of the National Restaurant Association in Washington, D.C., urged state and city leaders to adopt reasonable rules so restaurants with little grease are not forced to install unnecessary devices.
Generally, restaurants in buildings constructed within the past seven or eight years have automatically incorporated the special tanks into their design. The problems and costs mount substantially for existing businesses that find they are releasing more grease into sewer systems than allowed by federal regulators.
Muscatine and cities across the country, including Colorado Springs, Colo.; Grand Rapids, Mich.; and Austin, Texas, have adopted grease ordinances similar to those used by the Des Moines wastewater authority, according to a survey by the group.
A study by Wichita, Kan., showed that sewer blockages dropped from around 50 a decade ago to fewer than five in recent years after it adopted tighter regulations.
Each blockage typically costs taxpayers or businesses somewhere between $25,000 and $50,000, said Sara Runyan, a city employee who works with the program.
"In the end, it's cheaper to make the improvements," Runyan said.
"It also saves the city a lot of money in not having to clean the sewer lines. The taxpayers don't want to spend that money to clean the restaurants' mess."
A CLOSER LOOK AT MAMA LACONA'S
The Des Moines Metropolitan Wastewater Reclamation Authority has issued $11,230 in fines to area businesses in the past three years, including a $200 fine to
Mama Lacona’s, public records show.
The authority is made up of 16 cities, counties or sewer districts in the Des Moines metropolitan area.
Mama Lacona’s current grease trap was 100 percent full on at least four inspections in the past three years, well above the 25 percent cap that the authority recommends. It’s an indication that an illegal level of grease was being released into the sewer, reports say.
On June 12, a sewer overflow caused by a grease blockage occurred directly downstream from Mama Lacona’s, which triggered the fine and the requirement that a new grease collection system be installed.
Katie Lacona, one of the owners, said her family will likely appeal. She noted that the restaurant met all building requirements when its building was constructed about 10 years ago.
Appeals are rare and largely unsuccessful because of the federal and state requirements, noted Jody Smith, West Des Moines’ administrative services director and chairman of the waste authority’s board of directors.
In one case, a church accused of violations agreed to serve only pre-packaged foods at its Ankeny site. Smith, a member of the West Des Moines United Methodist Church, noted that two years ago during a major renovation project, his own congregation had to install the same type of special grease device that’s being required at Mama Lacona’s.
“It is a challenge in retrofitting areas,” Smith said. “Most of these are EPA or DNR standards and, logistically, we have to get the grease and fat out of the pipes or it’s going to cause problems.” He was referring to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Iowa Department of Natural Resources rules.
— Jason Clayworth
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/articl ... LqLUcgA%3D
