HAVRE DE GRACE, MD (November 20, 2007) – Lieutenant Governor Anthony Brown, Maryland’s Deputy Secretary of the Environment Robert M. Summers and Havre de Grace Mayor Wayne Dougherty participated in a groundbreaking today for the upgrade and expansion of the Havre de Grace Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP).
As a result of the BRAC process, the Aberdeen/Havre de Grace region is poised to receive a few thousand new households by 2012. Expanding and upgrading Havre de Grace WWTP will allow the City to meet the nutrient loading caps under Maryland’s Tributary Strategy Statewide Implementation Plan, while supporting growth within Priority Funding Areas. Based on the Aberdeen Proving Ground BRAC Impact report, completed by the Sage Policy Group in September 2007, 16,000 to 19,000 new jobs will be added in Harford County due to BRAC. In addition, population may increase by up to 8%. Located only 9.2 miles from Aberdeen Proving Ground, Havre de Grace is expected to receive a significant share of this growth.
“This expansion is of significant help to the Aberdeen Proving Ground Region in preparing for the increase in population and business activity projected as the result of the federal 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Act (BRAC),” said Lt. Gov. Brown. “This upgrade will allow Havre de Grace to protect the Chesapeake Bay while absorbing the increased activity.”
“This project is important to the city of Havre de Grace by helping protect one of our greatest assets, the Chesapeake Bay, while allowing us to add new residents and commercial entities, said Mayor Wayne Dougherty.” “We applaud the efforts that both the Maryland Department of the Environment and Governor O’Malley have made to upgrade all the state’s wastewater plants and improve the quality of water in the Chesapeake Bay.”
The proposed project consists of an expansion of the existing treatment capacity from 1.89 MGD (Million Gallons per Day) to 3.3 MGD, and completion of combined BNR/ENR facilities to achieve nutrient reductions required under the Chesapeake Bay Program. The expansion of the treatment plant is consistent with the local Comprehensive Plan and the approved Water & Sewerage Plan for the local jurisdiction, and has received growth consistency approval from the Maryland Department of Planning.
“MDE is please to provide funding through the Bay Restoration Program to upgrade the Havre de Grace Wastewater Treatment Plant,” said MDE Secretary Shari T. Wilson. “This upgrade will make a significant contribution to reducing pollution in the Chesapeake Bay.”
At the new design capacity of 3.3 MGD, the project will remove approximately 53,000 pounds of nitrogen and approximately 18,000 pounds phosphorus per year in the plant effluent to the Chesapeake Bay. The fund is the most innovative environmental legislation in the past two decades, to remove nitrogen and phosphorus from wastewater treatment plant effluent to state-of-the-art levels. When all 66 major plants are upgraded with use of the fund, impact will be a 7.5 million pound annual reduction in nitrogen and a 260 thousand pound annual reduction in phosphorus.
The $33.2 million plant will include enhanced nutrient reduction (ENR) technology that dramatically reduces the level of nitrogen and phosphorus being discharged directly to the Chesapeake. The upgrade project involves the planning, design, construction and installation of ENR equipment to achieve total nitrogen removal to a yearly average of 3 milligrams per liter and phosphorus to 0.3 milligrams per liter. Excess nutrients, like nitrogen and phosphorus, lead to degraded water quality, which negatively impact the ecology of the Bay and its tributaries. The upgrade also involves expanding the plant’s treatment capacity from 2 million to 3 million gallons per day to accommodate growth within designated Priority Funding Areas in the county and connect existing homes currently utilizing failing septic systems, averting a public health hazard. The ENR upgrades are scheduled to be completed in early 2010.