Artesian outlines plans for treatment plant

Artesian Wastewater Management Inc. presented plans for a new sewage treatment facility on a 127-acre parcel east of Isaacs Road and south of Reynolds Pond Road near Milton during a March 11 Sussex County Planning and Zoning public hearing.

The Southern Regional Recharge Facility would provide central sewage treatment to a 94-square-mile area extending north and east of Milton, south to the Long Neck area and west to the Delaware Coastal Airport and Business Park near Georgetown. Some of the subdivisions in the service area include Woodfield Preserve near the Rookery Golf Course, Vincent Overlook and Windstone along Cave Neck Road, Hawthorne and the Allen Harim poultry plant in the Harbeson area, and Independence, Stonewater Creek and Pelican Point on Indian Mission Road (Route 5).

David Hutt, the applicant's attorney, said Artesian officials hope to have the plant operational by summer 2022. The plant would have a capacity of 625,000 gallons per day.

David Spacht, Artesian president, said the company would work with Sussex County officials. “This is a plan for one large system for the greater good of the entire area. From the county's Wolfe Neck plant to Georgetown, we work in tandem with the county. This is not just for our system,” he said.

Two interconnection points to the Sussex County central sewer treatment system are also included in the service area.

Plans for treatment plant

The plant is part of a phased plan for the 127-acre site. Phase 1, approved a year ago, included a 90-million-gallon storage lagoon and spray-irrigation acreage for Allen Harim Foods' pretreated wastewater. A pipeline from the poultry processing plant in Harbeson to the spray-irrigation fields has already been installed. The system is scheduled to go online as soon as Allen Harim’s operational permit is approved by the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control for 1.5 million gallons per day.

Phase 2 includes an on-site wastewater treatment facility with a capacity of 625,000 gallons per day.

When all phases are complete, the facility will have a permitted capacity of 2.25 million gallons per day.

“This would be heavily regulated. It's a land-use application. There are people out there who would like to debate the science, but that's under the purview of the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control,” Hutt said.

Effluent will be applied to more than 1,700 acres of farm fields and woodlands, many of which are included in the Delaware Aglands Preservation Program.

Commissioner Bruce Mears asked to what degree the effluent would be treated. Konstanski said the wastewater is treated to such a level that there would be no problem if someone came into contact with it. Under the DNREC permit, he said, fencing is not required to keep people from accidentally wandering onto the site.

Hutt said Artesian's plan, in the works for two decades, has been delayed by permitting, legal challenges and studies. “Artesian would like nothing more than to be treating sewage to take in the expansion and growth happening in Sussex County right now,” he said.

The original conditional-use approvals for the plant and spray-irrigation fields date back to 2007 and 2008.

Public concerns about application

Milton resident Keith Steck questioned why wellhead protection areas and excellent water recharge areas were not shown on any maps in the public record. “Nothing in the documents talks about this, and there is nothing about compliance,” he said, which is required by county and state ordinances and laws.

He said the proposed site of the plant is located on land designated as a recharge area. “This is supposed to be a protected area. How can you make a decision without this information?” he asked.

Artesian engineer Daniel Konstanski said recharges and wellhead protection areas would be taken into account in the project design.

Steck said the proposed project should be reviewed under the state planning office Preliminary Land Use Service process, which includes review of projects by state agencies.

Stephanie Coulbourne, who lives along Reynolds Pond Road, said seven DNREC reports for the proposed project are not completed. “If they are not done yet, why is this being considered?” she asked.

She said those reports include nutrient management, whether 1,700 acres is sufficient, and groundwater recharge.

“I understand the need for this,” she said. “But they need to comply with all regulations and not affect the quality of our drinking water.”

She also questioned why the proposed buffer width was being reduced along her property.

Several area residents expressed concerns about spray irrigation during wet and cold months when spray limitations could be imposed.

Konstanski said the existing 90-million-gallon lagoon was designed using historic rainfall records. He said the lagoon has enough capacity to hold water for more than a month if needed during times when effluent can't be sprayed. He said under the existing DNREC permit, effluent cannot be sprayed when there is standing water on the fields or the land is frozen.

Change in buffer plan

One of the original conditions the applicant is asking to have amended concerns a proposed landscape buffer. Under the original approval, a 30-foot, heavily vegetated buffer was required around the entire perimeter of the property.

Hutt said with the addition of 52 acres and configuration of where the treatment plant would be located, the buffer plan needs to be changed.

He said the applicant is proposing a 20-foot, medium-vegetated buffer along Isaacs Road in the vicinity of the existing lagoon and berm with no landscape buffer along the remainder of Isaacs Road where a proposed future spray-irrigation field would be located.

He also proposed a 20-foot buffer along the northern boundary of the property adjacent to some existing houses.

Commissioner Kim Hoey Stevenson asked the applicant to consider expanding the buffer to 30 feet in the vicinity of the Colburn family home.

“With a conditional-use application, the commission can place stipulations if approved. We can mitigate concerns discussed by members of the public,” said Commission Chairman Bob Wheatley.

The commission deferred a vote for further consideration of the public record. Sussex County Council has scheduled a public hearing at 10 a.m., Tuesday, April 13.