Milton citizens appeal Artesian spray permit

Artesian Water Company has broken ground on its new, $17 million Northern Sussex Regional Water Recharge Facility, but environmental groups are raising alarms about the project. One group filed an appeal of state permits for the project.

The Environmental Appeals Board will meet Tuesday, May 22, in Dover to hear the appeal, brought by Keep Our Wells Clean, a citizens group of affected residents, represented by attorney Kenneth Kristl. The appeal seeks to reverse Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control Secretary Shawn Garvin's order to amend Artesian's permit to allow Artesian to provide wastewater disposal service at Allen Harim's poultry-processing plant in Harbeson.

The appeal states that Artesian's proposal for a system handling up to 2 million gallons of water a day failed to meet state requirements because it contains no hydrogeologic suitability report, required for systems with a design flow of more than 2,500 gallons a day. The appeal also states that Artesian failed to submit a surface water assessment report, as required by state law.

Artesian was originally approved for the spray irrigation site in 2013. The site covers 1,700 acres along Route 16 and Route 30 northwest of Milton. In May 2017, Artesian sought to amend the permit to serve a new customer, Allen Harim, and spray up to 2 million gallons of treated industrial wastewater from Allen Harim's Harbeson processing plant. Artesian was given land-use approval by the county in 2013 to operate as a regional wastewater treatment facility, although Kristl contends in his appeal those approvals expired in 2016.

Kristl's appeal also says that Garvin's order does not comply with nitrogen and phosphorus regulations for the Broadkill River and does not have adequate monitoring of the quality of the treated effluent. Artesian's proposal calls for effluent to be pumped to the spray irrigation site and stored in a 90-million- gallon lagoon until it can be sprayed on the fields.

Artesian has already broken ground on the facility, which includes 8.5 miles of force mains and will spray 1.5 million gallons a day.

Artesian President and CEO Dian Taylor said, "Our project is removing a major point-source of stream discharge from Beaverdam Creek, and ultimately the Broadkill River Watershed. We are pleased to provide a cost-effective and environmentally protective long-term solution for wastewater disposal in Sussex County."

That outlook is disputed by Milton residents, such as environmentalist John Austin, who are concerned that the water from the Artesian field will commingle with nitrate-heavy material from the Clean Delaware spray fields across Route 30. Clean Delaware pumps treated sludge, a fertilizer-like material, onto the fields.

Austin said that material, which is heavy with nitrates, made its way into the groundwater serving homes at Collins, Clay and Russell streets outside Milton. DNREC tested the groundwater for nitrates at several homes there in 2013, and nitrate levels were more than 10, which means the water was not safe to drink. Austin said drinking water was provided to some residents, but not all in the area were aware of the contamination.

In a May 8 interview, Austin said the groundwater near the site primarily travels south, meaning from the Artesian/Clean Delaware sites, the groundwater moves toward the town of Milton.

"If they start operations here, water is going to go west to east and take this contamination and move it toward the town," he said. "You have water nine times what's safe to drink moving toward the town."

Michael Globetti, spokesman for DNREC, said, "The department has worked with Clean Delaware to limit the number of acres used, to reduce the quantity and kinds of materials being land-applied, to apply wastes more evenly, to use cover crops in the winter, and to increase monitoring."

He said monitoring wells installed by Clean Delaware have shown significant reduction in nitrate levels since 2013 and the facility is in compliance with DNREC. The Artesian and Clean Delaware fields are located outside the town of Milton.

Austin said there are still too many unknowns about the project's effects on drinking water. Water with high levels of nitrates is particularly dangerous for newborns and women who are pregnant, as it could result in miscarriage, birth defects or suffocation of the baby, Austin said.

Globetti said Allen Harim will be responsible for obtaining an operations permit specifying the monitoring and reporting requirements, and the effluent limitations of the treated wastewater sent to the Artesian facility.