BURNET — A petition signed by a handful of residents did not sway the City Council from its plan to dump more effluent into Hamilton Creek, a move critics claim could pollute Lake Travis.

Burnet officials are asking the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to approve a new permit allowing the discharge into the creek, which officials say is needed to keep up with population growth.

They said critics' fears — including concerns about cancer risks — are groundless.

“Contrary to what was said, science is really on our side,” City Manager Michael Steele told the council.

The Lower Colorado River Authority has conducted several sophisticated computer tests on sewage treatment procedures the city will implement at a new plant that will handle the water, Steele added.

“We fall well within what is acceptable to them,” Steele added.

More than 20 residents signed a petition against the increased discharge that was presented to the council during its meeting Tuesday. Local leaders listened politely as opponents to the measure voiced their opinions.

However, the council did not budge from its position.

Protect Lake Travis Association President Lonnie Moore addressed the council first.

“We know you desperately need a new sewage treatment plant, but we disagree with you as to what to do with the effluent,” Moore said.

Hamilton Creek is a freshwater stream that extends about four miles south of Texas 29 near the city of Burnet to Lake Travis and the Colorado River.

Burnet city officials have applied to TCEQ to authorize an increase in the discharge of treated domestic wastewater into the creek from an annual average flow of 760,000 gallons a day to an annual average flow of 1.1 million gallons per day.

A new sewage plant currently estimated to cost about $22 million will treat the effluent, city officials have said.

TCEQ officials have recommended approval, Assistant City Manager David Vaughn has said.

However, the creek will undergo “significant degradation” if TCEQ permits the increased discharge, Moore said.

Currently, the city discharges effluent into the Delaware Springs Golf Course and hayfields over 200 acres, Moore noted.

“We believe land-based irrigation is still the best and safest way to discharge treated effluent,” Moore said.

Speaking as a member of Concerned Citizens of Hamilton Creek, Mustard Seed Ministries Pastor Dennis Cornelison also spoke against the effluent increase.

He is the owner of Creekside Camps and Cabins on Hamilton Creek in Marble Falls, 222 Hatchett Hill, Cornelison told the council.

“My livelihood is those cabins,” he added. “If people find out the creek has effluent running in it — my business is shot. ”

Floyd Casey, also from Concerned Citizens,  disputed claims that both state environmental requirements and computer technology indicate the water will not be polluted.

“Technology is wonderful, but accidents will happen,” Casey said. “Everything electrical, mechanical and subject to human operation will fail.”

Charles Hatchett, another member of Concerned Citizens, said he is worried whether the effluent could carry “cancer-causing substances.”

However, the council and city staff calmly restated their position in favor of the increase.

Also, the city’s current sewer plant has discharged effluent into the creek only six times the past 10 years, Mayor Alan Smith said.

“I do not think that will cause cancer,” Smith added.

Most likely, except during a “worst-case scenario,” the plant will discharge much less than 1.1 gallons of effluent per day into the creek, Smith added.

“The chances of putting the entire plant (effluent) into the creek on any given day is slim and none,” Smith added.

The council will continue to look for new areas in the city to irrigate with effluent, including new soccer fields, Smith said.