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At the seventh municipal plant upgrade initiated since adoption of the landmark Chesapeake Bay Restoration Fund, Governor Robert L. Ehrlich continued progress toward a cleaner Chesapeake Bay by breaking ground this month to upgrade the Chestertown’s Wastewater Treatment Plant. Governor Ehrlich was joined by Maryland Secretary of the Environment Kendl P. Philbrick, Chestertown Mayor Margo G. Bailey, key cabinet secretaries and local leaders.
“Maryland continues its leadership in restoring the health of the Chesapeake Bay,” said Governor Ehrlich. “Across Maryland, we are gearing up to eliminate millions of pounds of pollution annually from the Bay. This administration is committed to preserving our great national treasure. Projects like this one in Chestertown will have a lasting impact on this state and the legacy we leave to future generations.”
Work on the new facility will begin this month and the upgraded components are expected to be fully operational by next summer. “By 2007, construction will be underway at nearly half the major plants in the state, and one after the other, they will facilitate drastically lower nutrient levels,” said Secretary Philbrick. “Additional nutrient removal in Chestertown is essential for Maryland to meet its commitments under the Chesapeake 2000 Agreement.”
Wheels of Progress Turn Toward Innovation
The more than $9.18 million plant will include enhanced nutrient removal (ENR) and biological nutrient removal technology that dramatically reduces the level of nitrogen and phosphorus being discharged directly to the Chester River that flows to the Chesapeake Bay. Made possible by the Governor Ehrlich’s Chesapeake Bay Restoration Fund, the most innovative environmental legislation in the past two decades, the upgraded facility will remove nitrogen and phosphorus from wastewater treatment plant effluent. When all 66 major plants are upgraded with use of the fund, the impact will be a 7.5 million pound annual reduction in nitrogen and a 260,000-pound annual reduction in phosphorus.
Enhanced Nutrient Removal
The upgrade project involves the planning, design, construction and installation of full-scale ENR equipment to achieve total nitrogen removal to a yearly average of 3 to 4 milligrams per liter, an 83 percent reduction, and phosphorus to 0.3 milligrams per liter, a 90 percent reduction over current levels. Excess nutrients, like nitrogen and phosphorus, lead to degraded water quality, which negatively impact the ecology of the Bay and its tributaries. The plant processes 900,000 gallons of effluent per day and serves more than 4,200 people.
In addition to the nearly $1.5 million Bay Restoration Fund grant, a loan in excess of $3.6 million to the town from the state revolving fund and a $3 million grant for biological nutrient removal, both administered by the Maryland Department of the Environment, and other state and federal grants will finance the project.
“The Town of Chestertown is doing its share in this vital nutrient removal program and appreciates the state’s and EPA’s efforts to assist us with grants and loans,” said Chestertown Mayor Bailey. “The Chester River is extraordinary with a rich colonial maritime history. It is incumbent upon us to ensure that the Chester River is as clean as it can be for our use and the use of future generations. With this upgrade, we will definitely improve the river’s quality.”
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