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MWMC FACIUT1ES PLAN 9.3.9 Cultural Resources System Alternative 1 will have no anticipated impact on cultural resources. Construction activities would not occur at MWMC facilities and there would be no potential to disturb culturally significant resources. 9.3.10 Socioeconomics System Alternative 1 could result in negative impacts to the economic growth in the Eugene-Springfield metropolitan area. Expansion and upgrades to MWMC facilities would result in an increase in temporary construction and construction-related employment in the Eugene-Springfield metropolitan area. In addition, it is anticipated that the local market would benefit from the sale of construction materials, thus increasing the level of economic activity during construction periods. Construction activities would not occur under the no action altemative and this alternative would not provide the same level of economic benefits to the local economy as System Alternatives 5 and 4. As the current MWMC facilities reach their capacity, the increasing volume would ultimately exceed the capacity of the treatment plant and conveyance system to treat the wastewater. There would be a strong likelihood that wastewater would overflow into the local environment. As noted in sections 9.3.2 and 9.3.3, these wastewater overflows could seriously degrade water quality and biological resources in the Willamette River downstream from the WPCF outfall, and in other local waterways. Impacts to water quality and biological resources could, in turn, have a negative impact on property values, recreational resources, and human health downstream from the outfall. These impacts could negatively affect economic activity in the area by lowering property values, reducing recreational opportunities, and increasing the potential for proliferation of water-bome illnesses in the area. As noted in section 9.3.4, increased flows and loadings during wet and dry weather conditions will result in increased releases of fugitive odors. Increased fugitive odors could, in turn, affect property values and have a potential negative impact on human health in the vicinity of the MWMC facilities. 9.4 System Alternative 5 - MWMC Preferred Alternative: Parallel Primary/Seconda Treatment 9.4.1 Affected Environment Upgrading the WPCF could result in two types of impacts: temporary, construction-related impacts, and environmental impacts not related to construction processes. Similar to System Alternative 1, the affected environment associated with System Altemative 5 includes areas where both direct and indirect impacts could occur, such as in the vicinity of the present location of the WPCF and areas in the Willamette River downstream from the WPCF outfall (direct impacts), and the entire Eugene-Springfield area (indirect impacts). 9-8 MWMC_9.0_REV14.DOC