Mountaire moves forward with upgraded treatment plant

Mountaire Farms of Delaware's proposal to upgrade its wastewater treatment facility along Route 24 near Millsboro received approval of a revised preliminary site plan from Sussex County Planning and Zoning Commission at its March 11 meeting.

The proposed $50 million project includes three new equalization tanks, with each replacing a current tank or lagoon; a pretreatment building, which will move the existing pretreatment system closer to the wastewater treatment plant; two new treatment tanks for nitrogen removal; an additional finished storage pond; new sludge dewatering equipment; and a new building.

There will be no increase in capacity at the wastewater facility. The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control flow limit of 2.6 million gallons per day is not changing.

In February 2020, Mountaire received approval from Sussex County officials to expand its spray irrigation and sludge application field acreage by 352 acres for a total of more than 1,200 acres on over a dozen fields in the area of the processing plant, which also includes a hatchery and grain operation. At the time, Mountaire officials stated plans for the plant were being formalized.

Once all agency approvals are completed, planning and zoning staff will review and approve the final site plan.