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Enclosure required at PLWC plant
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| Chad Miller/Daily Press The biosolids discharge area at the PLWC wastewater treatment plant recently had to be enclosed to satisfy recommendations from the ADEQ. |
By Chad Miller
cmiller@paragoulddailypress.com
After spending more than $300,000 repairing a dryer at the wastewater treatment plant, Paragould Light, Water and Cable recently had to spend an additional $18,000 to enclose the discharge area.
PLWC environmental services manager Lisa Ellington said the utility completed an enclosure which satisfied recommendations from the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ). She said ADEQ inspectors were unhappy with the biosolids on the ground at the dryer’s discharge area and said the only solution to the problem was to enclose the area.
“They [ADEQ inspectors] said the EPA would not like seeing [biosolids on the ground] and we need to keep that cleaned up,” Ellington said. “Well, it’s a chatted area and kind of difficult to clean up.”
PLWC CEO Bill Fisher said the biosolids being discharged were “exceptional quality” biosolids and therefore posed no threat to the environment. He said he did not understand why the ADEQ inspectors deemed the enclosure necessary.
“It [biosolids on the ground] is not causing any harm,” Fisher said. “It’s a Class A discharge and it’s not regulated by the EPA. So, we saw no need to enclose [the discharge area] at all. We saw absolutely no harm to the environment.”
Ellington said the wastewater treatment plant was in “a totally contained area” and the biosolids on the ground could not pollute any waterways. She said all the water around the plant was treated through the plant.
“So, [the water] would go right back through the plant to be treated,” Ellington said. “They [ADEQ inspectors] just didn’t like seeing it on the ground out there.”
Ellington said shortly after the inspectors’ visit early last year, she met with Fisher and decided the only solution to the problem was to enclose the area. She said the biosolids on the ground were the result of wind blowing them out of the discharge area. Ellington said since the biosolids dryer was in need of repair, it was decided to incorporate the enclosure into the repair project.
“There was no way we could [enclose the discharge area] until we got the dryer put back together,” Ellington said. “We all discussed what needed to be done and that was the only solution we could come up with. We did what we had to do and knew we were going to have to do it.”
“We’ve always wanted to follow ADEQ recommendations whether we felt it was reasonable or not,” Fisher said. “We could’ve argued with them and probably still lost. We presented our case as to why we felt like [the discharge area] didn’t need to be closed [in]. But, when they [ADEQ] said ‘we want you to go ahead and do it,’ we spent the money and did it.”
Fisher said although the project to repair the dryer had already cost more than originally budgeted, the additional enclosure did not effect the company’s bottom line. He said the company often incurred unexpected additional expenses throughout the year and postponed some projects because of it.
“We might find a project that is more important than one we have budgeted,” Fisher said. “If we have a project that’s costing us more than we anticipate, we don’t do another we anticipated doing.”
Ellington said although the dryer had been repaired, PLWC is still not quite ready to resume selling the biosolids just yet. She said she hoped that can resume early next week.
“It’s taking a while for the dryer to get back into its groove,” Ellington said. “We totally took the thing apart. Things have to settle back into their routine.”
Fisher said the repairs to the dryer should last at least 10 years.
PLWC environmental services manager Lisa Ellington said the utility completed an enclosure which satisfied recommendations from the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ). She said ADEQ inspectors were unhappy with the biosolids on the ground at the dryer’s discharge area and said the only solution to the problem was to enclose the area.
“They [ADEQ inspectors] said the EPA would not like seeing [biosolids on the ground] and we need to keep that cleaned up,” Ellington said. “Well, it’s a chatted area and kind of difficult to clean up.”
PLWC CEO Bill Fisher said the biosolids being discharged were “exceptional quality” biosolids and therefore posed no threat to the environment. He said he did not understand why the ADEQ inspectors deemed the enclosure necessary.
“It [biosolids on the ground] is not causing any harm,” Fisher said. “It’s a Class A discharge and it’s not regulated by the EPA. So, we saw no need to enclose [the discharge area] at all. We saw absolutely no harm to the environment.”
Ellington said the wastewater treatment plant was in “a totally contained area” and the biosolids on the ground could not pollute any waterways. She said all the water around the plant was treated through the plant.
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Ellington said shortly after the inspectors’ visit early last year, she met with Fisher and decided the only solution to the problem was to enclose the area. She said the biosolids on the ground were the result of wind blowing them out of the discharge area. Ellington said since the biosolids dryer was in need of repair, it was decided to incorporate the enclosure into the repair project.
“There was no way we could [enclose the discharge area] until we got the dryer put back together,” Ellington said. “We all discussed what needed to be done and that was the only solution we could come up with. We did what we had to do and knew we were going to have to do it.”
“We’ve always wanted to follow ADEQ recommendations whether we felt it was reasonable or not,” Fisher said. “We could’ve argued with them and probably still lost. We presented our case as to why we felt like [the discharge area] didn’t need to be closed [in]. But, when they [ADEQ] said ‘we want you to go ahead and do it,’ we spent the money and did it.”
Fisher said although the project to repair the dryer had already cost more than originally budgeted, the additional enclosure did not effect the company’s bottom line. He said the company often incurred unexpected additional expenses throughout the year and postponed some projects because of it.
“We might find a project that is more important than one we have budgeted,” Fisher said. “If we have a project that’s costing us more than we anticipate, we don’t do another we anticipated doing.”
Ellington said although the dryer had been repaired, PLWC is still not quite ready to resume selling the biosolids just yet. She said she hoped that can resume early next week.
“It’s taking a while for the dryer to get back into its groove,” Ellington said. “We totally took the thing apart. Things have to settle back into their routine.”
Fisher said the repairs to the dryer should last at least 10 years.
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