PRESS RELEASE DETAIL
For release: IMMEDIATELY
Release Date: 10/04/2016
City-Parish Officially Decommissions Central Wastewater Treatment Plant
For more information, contact:
Adam Smith, Interim Director, Department of Environmental Services: (225) 389-4865
Susan Boudreaux, Mayor’s Office: (225) 389-5101
Michelle McCalope, Mayor’s Office: (225) 389-7957
This morning, Mayor-President Melvin L. “Kip” Holden and other public officials held a ceremony to recognize the closing of the Central Wastewater Treatment Plant as part of the Baton Rouge Sanitary Sewer Overflow Control and Water Facilities Program (SSO Program). The decommissioning of this plant and its related infrastructure, made possible through a number of capacity improvements and upgrades to the City-Parish’s other two wastewater treatment plants, marks a critical milestone for the City-Parish and the SSO Program.
“With the decommissioning of our Central Wastewater Treatment Plant, we have now reached a pivotal point in our work to invest in sound and sustainable infrastructure that will benefit our children and grandchildren for years to come,” said Mayor Holden. “Through programs like our Sanitary Sewer Overflow Program, we’re creating new opportunities for development, growth, and sustained quality-of-life – particularly in an area like the Nicholson Corridor, which we expect to be one of the next great hubs for economic growth and activity in the coming years – while significantly enhancing the capacity and efficiency of our East Baton Rouge Parish wastewater system.”
Since 2005, the City-Parish has been working to design, develop, and construct the 110 projects that comprise the SSO Program, which is focused on improving quality-of-life for Baton Rouge residents through strategic infrastructure investments and capacity upgrades to the East Baton Rouge sewage infrastructure and wastewater system. Work being done as part of the SSO Program includes capacity projects, which increase the capacity of pump stations and pipes eliminating overflows, thus allowing for growth; rehabilitation projects, which rehabilitate various elements of the wastewater system; and treatment projects, such as the more than $250 million invested in state-of-the-art upgrades to the South Wastewater Treatment Plant, thus enabling the decommissioning of the Central Wastewater Treatment Plant.
“By eliminating the need for the Central Wastewater Treatment Plant, we expect to realize approximately $25 million in savings over the course of the next 20 years through better resource utilization, investing in and maintaining newer assets like those at the South Wastewater Treatment Plant, while enhancing quality-of-life and economic opportunity throughout the area,” said Adam Smith, Interim Director of the Department of Environmental Services.
Since 2001, the City-Parish has operated under a consent decree issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency focused on improving quality-of-life for Baton Rouge residents through enhanced wastewater treatment and eliminating the occurrence of sanitary sewer, or wet weather, overflows. The SSO Program has been the guiding force behind the City-Parish’s efforts to achieve these goals in coordination with this consent decree, as well as to equip the East Baton Rouge Parish wastewater system with the necessary technology and infrastructure to withstand larger flow volumes during emergency situations. Recently, during the devastating August 2016 flooding events, the system’s pump stations and collection processes sustained some damage due to flooding but generally remained in service during the storm due to the generators that were installed as part of this program.
To help accommodate and expedite the closing of the Central Wastewater Treatment Plant, the City-Parish has installed a centralized monitoring system to provide remote, computer-based controls for the collection network; installed emergency generators at pump stations; and expanded the South Wastewater Treatment Plant to improve its capacity during rainstorms through a new electrical substation, expanded treatment processes, odor control facilities, and other related improvements.
For more information on the SSO Program, please visit http://www.brprojects.com.