The North Carolina Utilities Commission (“NCUC”) on February 1st issued an Order granting Pluris Webb Creek, LLC’s (“Pluris”) application as temporary operator with the eventual approval of a certificate of public convenience and necessity at Pines Utilities, Inc. (“Pines”), near Jacksonville, North Carolina. Pines has provided sewer services to more than 300 residential customers. The existing aged wastewater treatment plant at Pines was permitted to discharge 70,000 gallons of wastewater per day but was failing in recent years, creating environmental concern.
Pluris approached the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (“NCDEQ”), with a solution to the environmental concerns caused by the failing plant, and also approached the NCUC in regards to helping rate payers within Pines, who were facing a significant rate increase with a proposed new plant that would only service the existing Pines Utilities’ customers.
Pluris proposed to interconnect Pines’ collection system with the adjoining Pluris Webb Creek, LLC wastewater treatment facility in Webb Creek. By doing so, the rate payers in Pines would not have to bear the cost for a new multi-million dollar wastewater treatment plant serving Pines.
Pluris’ solution would benefit both rate payers in Pines as well as Webb Creek. As previously reported, Pluris was appointed by the NCUC as the emergency operator of the former Webb Creek Water and Sewage Co., utility in August, 2016, due to more than 400 environmental violations. Pluris’ plans to build a membrane bio-reactor (“MBR”) treatment plant at Webb Creek that would serve both groups of rate payers, allowing costs of the one plant to be spread over a greater number of customers.
Pluris has designed and built two MBR facilities in Onslow and Pender Counties and has received positive comments from the NCDEQ regarding these facilities.
Former Senior Environmental Engineer with the NCDEQ, Jim Bushardt, PE stated, “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 Pluris’ office in Onslow County at 910.327.0349.
