Artesian begins operation of Milton spray facility

Artesian Wastewater Management has begun accepting treated wastewater from poultry producer Allen Harim for spray application at its Sussex Regional Water Recharge Facility in Milton.

The facility, aka SRRF,  is approved to spray up to 1.5 million gallons per day of effluent treated at Allen Harim’s Harbeson plant and pumped to the Milton site, which consists of 1,700 acres of farm fields starting at the intersection of Route 16 and Route 30. SRRF also includes a 90 million-gallon storage lagoon. Artesian has already invested $28 million into the project, which includes 9 miles of force main built from Allen Harim’s plant to the fields outside Milton. 

Virginia Eisenbrey, spokeswoman for Artesian, said the primary crop will be corn, but winter wheat, rye and soybeans will also be grown. She said Artesian currently has 580 acres of land it is permitted to spray on, with half that acreage dedicated to Allen Harim. 

Dian Taylor, CEO of Artesian, said, “Spray irrigation of recycled wastewater is a proven technology to improve the quality of local groundwater while providing beneficial nutrients to help plants grow, preserving agricultural open space and the local water cycle. We are pleased to provide a cost-effective and environmentally protective long-term solution for wastewater disposal in Sussex County.”

This marks the culmination of a four-year journey to get from Artesian and Allen Harim’s initial agreement to work together to actually pumping water to SRRF. 

The process was not without controversy: Artesian’s construction permit for the site was challenged by local environmental group Keep Our Wells Clean, which fought the permit all the way to Delaware Supreme Court. Then, Allen Harim did not get its operations permit from Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control until May of this year. 

Artesian and Allen Harim first got into business in 2017 with mutual interests; Allen Harim had been cited for environmental violations the year before related to the contents of its wastewater discharge, which was then going into nearby Beaverdam Creek, a tributary of the Inland Bays. Artesian had acquired land along Route 30 originally in anticipation of a development to be called Elizabethtown. But when the development did not get built, Artesian searched for another way to use the land. Under their agreement, Artesian gets Allen Harim’s wastewater, while Allen Harim can stop dumping its treated effluent in Beaverdam Creek.

Under its permit with DNREC, Allen Harim was mandated to stop dumping into the creek within 60 days.

Dave Spacht, Artesian’s president and chief financial officer, said, “Our northern Sussex facility is a major step toward a lasting solution to managing wastewater in a way that will improve water quality in the area.”

“We are removing a major point source of stream discharge from Beaverdam Creek, and ultimately the Broadkill River watershed,” Taylor said. 

The news that Artesian has begun accepting Allen Harim’s treated wastewater comes not long after Allen Harim filed a lawsuit in Delaware Court of Chancery over $1.42 million Artesian claimed it was owed for services rendered between March and December 2020. Allen Harim argues it should not have to pay because no services were rendered; Allen Harim did not have its operations permit at that time and could not send treated effluent to Artesian. 

In its court filings, Allen Harim claimed that Artesian was holding Allen Harim hostage and threatening to cause Allen Harim to be in violation of its permit by not taking its effluent until the company had paid. Eisenbrey said the lawsuit has been resolved. 

With its first customer now sending wastewater, Artesian is now turning toward Phase 2 of its plans for SRRF: building a wastewater treatment plant that will be able to accommodate increased development in the Route 16 corridor. Eisenbrey said Artesian has already filed for a construction and operations permit, and intends to begin construction in late 2021.