The North Carolina Utilities Commission on August 8th appointed Pluris Webb Creek, LLC (“Pluris”) as the emergency operator for the troubled Webb Creek Water and Sewage Co. (“WCWS”), near Jacksonville North Carolina. WCWS provides sewer services to about 1,000 residential customers, Sand Ridge Elementary School and a number of commercial retail stores. The wastewater treatment plant is permitted to discharge 300,000 gallons of waste per day and has exceeded its permit flow at times.
Jim Gregson, surface water protection supervisor for the water resources division of the North Carolina. Division of Environmental Quality (“DEQ”), said that, “Webb Creek probably worries us more than any plant right now.” Information provided by DEQ shows 476 notices of violation sent to the company, dating back to 1995.
The environmental concern is not only untreated or partly treated waste that could be discharged into Wallace Creek, which is listed as being suitable for recreation, but also that only partly treated effluent could reach Parrot Swamp, which leads to Queens Creek and Bear Creek.
Pluris plans to integrate membrane bio-reactor (“MBR”) treatment into the plant to insure environmental compliance. Pluris has designed and built two MBR facilities in Onslow and Pender Counties. Pictured below is an aerial view of the North Topsail MBR facility and a recent picture of the freshwater fish tank at the facility. The water in the fish tank is treated wastewater from the MBR plant.
Former Senior Environmental Engineer with North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Jim Bushardt, PE said, “Pluris’s MBR treatment facilities represent the highest level of wastewater treatment in the state of North Carolina”.
For more information readers are encouraged to reach Randy Hoffer, Regional Manager for Pluris in North Carolina. Randy can be reached at [email protected] or at his office in North Topsail at 910.327.0349.
