Residents ask for vote to consolidate Bethel Heights into Springdale

SPRINGDALE -- Bethel Heights residents say they have the signatures needed to force a special election on whether to consolidate their small city into Springdale.

Residents started the drive last summer after years of living with faulty wastewater treatment plants.

"This is the only way this is going to be stopped," said Joe Brooks, one of the leaders of the annexation effort.

The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality in the past year has recorded wastewater with extremely high levels of E. coli and coliform pooling on the surface of the ground at the plants. An engineering report sent to the state last month on behalf of the city noted the plants haven't operated in compliance with the state's permit for at least a decade.

Read more: https://www.nwaonline.com/news/2019/dec/22/residents-ask-for-vote-to-consolidate-b/
(Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)