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SUBMISSION AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF RECEIPT OF OKLAHOMA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY CONSTRUCTION PERMIT SLR000014190515 FOR THE COMPOST FACILITY RE-USE PUMP STATION PROJECT LOCATED ADJACENT TO THE WATER RECLAMATION FACILITY.
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BACKGROUND: The Norman Utilities Authority (NUA) opened the Composting Facility at its current site in September 2009. Yard waste including grass, leaves, shrubs, and small tree limbs are accepted at the composting facility. Yard waste is ground into mulch with a tub grinder, mixed in the correct proportions to aid decomposition and laid out in long rows called windrows. The facility includes a looped irrigation water system to supply potable water for proper moisture control and curing of the compost. Initially, the windrows are about six feet high and sixteen feet wide, are kept moist with the aid of spray irrigation and mixed by turning about three times each week. The heat generated by the decomposition process raises the internal windrow temperature to approximately 130 degrees Fahrenheit. The composting process is complete in 90 to 120 days and the volume of mulch is reduced about 50% as the mulch decomposes. Cured compost is then released to our citizens and other users.
This project will provide for effluent reuse at Yard Waste Composting Facility located adjacent to and southwest of the Water Reclamation Facility (WRF)located south of Highway 9 off Jenkins Avenue. Reuse of treated wastewater effluent can reduce water demand and may help delay the need for expensive water supply projects. A non-potable water system allowing reuse of treated effluent on the grounds of the WRF is in place. Disinfected wastewater effluent may also be used for offsite irrigation purposes such as at the Compost Facility, if permitted by the ODEQ. This project will install a pump station downstream of the WRF Disinfection Facility to deliver treated and disinfected effluent the Compost Facility for irrigation purposes.
The WRF operates under an Oklahoma Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (OPDES) permit last issued in July 2010; the NUA is in process of renewing the permit. The NUA and the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) agreed on September 12, 2014 to a compliance schedule under Consent Order (CO) #13-077. The approved schedule and its current status is detailed below:
1. Submit Schedule for Supplemental Environmental Project - 11/30/14 (complete)
2. Complete disinfection improvements - 01/01/16 (complete)
3. Attain compliance with fecal coliform limits - 07/01/16 (complete)
4. Complete Phase 2 improvements - 01/01/17 (Operational February 2017)
5. Attain compliance with Ammonia and TSS limits - 07/01/17 (in compliance since 03/2017)
The completion of the Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP) is a requirement of CO#13-077; the approved SEP was to utilize chlorinated effluent at the Compost Facility in lieu of potable drinking water. The original schedule for the SEP improvements was delayed due to the construction of the WRF Phase 2 Improvements beginning in June 2014. Additionally, the completion of the new ultraviolet (UV) Disinfection Facility allowed use of UV disinfected effluent in lieu of effluent disinfected by chlorine. NUA staff requested a variance from DEQ reuse rules to accomplish this change on February 15, 2018. Staff met with DEQ to discuss the proposed variance on March 29, 2018 and the DEQ advised that the variance was conditionally approved on July 18, 2018.
DISCUSSION: As a part of the project requirements, a permit from the Oklahoma DEQ is required. On December 8, 2018, the NUA approved Contract K-1819-82 authorizing Alan Plummer and Associates (APAI) to proceed with design, surveying, bidding and limited construction management services for the Compost Reuse Pump Station (SA0016). The 90% design documents were received March 29, 2019 and NUA comments were forwarded to APAI on May 1, 2019. The design documents were submitted to DEQ on June 19, 2019. The DEQ approved the final design plans on July 15, 2019 and DEQ Permit No. SLR000014190515 was received by the NUA on August 5, 2019.
The project is expected to be advertised in late August with the bid opening to occur in September 2019. Bid award and approval of the construction contract is expected by November 2019 with the 6-month construction phase to begin immediately thereafter. Consent Order #13-077 requires project completion by July 1, 2020.
RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends that receipt of attached DEQ Permit SLR000014190515 issued July 15, 2019, be noted and made a matter of permanent record in the City Council minutes.