Following the close of a 30-day public notice period, ADEC has prepared an APDES proposed final permit for Ward Cove Wastewater Treatment Plant. Prior to making the final decision, ADEC is making the permit and associated documents available to the applicant for a 5-day review. You can access the proposed final permit and associated documents at ADEC’s Wastewater Discharge Authorization Program web page at: http://www.dec.state.ak.us/water/wwdp/index.htm
DEC Contact:
Melinda Smodey
Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation
Division of Water
Wastewater Discharge Authorization Program
555 Cordova Street
Anchorage, AK 99501
(907) 269-7564
Fax: (907) 334-2415
Melinda.Smodey@alaska.gov
Proposed Final Permit Review:
Start Date: 09/17/2014
End Date: 09/24/2014
Permit No.: AK0053384
Applicant: Full Cycle LLC
Ward Cove Wastewater Treatment Plant
7559 N. Tongass Highway
Ketchikan, AK 99901
Permittee Mailing Address: PO Box 772 Ward Cove, AK 99928
Proposed Project and Location:
The Ward Cove Wastewater Treatment Plant (Ward Cove WWTP) is an extended aeration/activated sludge domestic wastewater treatment plant. The facility has a maximum design flow of 25,000 gallons per day. An approximate average of 4,500 gallons per day of domestic waste is generated onsite and treated in the WWTP. The facility also contains a sludge processing facility that processes sludge from the WWTP and domestic sludge from septic tanks in the Ketchikan Gateway Borough. Sludge is dewatered in the processing facility, and the filtrate is sent back through the WWTP from a holding tank at the rate of about 10,000 gallons per discharge event. The domestic wastewater discharges via an internal outfall, which is monitored prior to discharging into a wooden stave pipeline. The wooden stave pipeline carries freshwater from Lake Connell and discharges into Ward Cove. The discharge is also monitored at the end of pipe, prior to final discharge into Ward Cove.
Ward Cove is situated near the northwestern boundary of Tongass Narrows at the border of the City of Ketchikan, Alaska. The outfall does not have a diffuser and is located at 55 degrees, 24 minutes and 26 seconds north latitude; 131 degrees, 43 minutes and 45 seconds west longitude. Ward Cove is classified as a Category 4a impaired water body for residues and dissolved oxygen. A Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) has been approved for Ward Cove and specifically mentions the discharge from the Ward Cove WWTP as not expected to affect levels of dissolved oxygen and is not considered relevant to the residues TMDL.
The discharge contains pollutants such as biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), total suspended solids, pH, dissolved oxygen, total residual chlorine, fecal coliform bacteria, and copper.
No mixing zone is authorized, permit limits are required to be met at the internal outfall prior to discharge into the wooden stave pipeline as well as at the end of pipe prior to final discharge into Ward Cove.
Administrative Record:
The APDES proposed final permit, fact sheet, and associated documents are available for public review at the ADEC offices located in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau. Please contact the office of your choice to arrange for hard copies of the documents to be available for your review.
555 Cordova Street 610 University Avenue 410 Willoughby Ave #303
Anchorage, AK 99501 Fairbanks, AK 99709 Juneau, AK 99811
907-269-6285 907-451-2100 907-465-5300
The documents are also accessible from the ADEC website at: http://www.dec.state.ak.us/water/wwdp/index.htm
Disability Reasonable Accommodation Notice
The State of Alaska, Department of Environmental Conservation complies with Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. If you are a person with a disability who may need a special accommodation in order to participate in this public review, please contact Deborah Pock at (907) 269-0291 or TDD Relay Service 1-800-770-8973/TTY or dial 711 within 5 days of publication of this notice to ensure that any necessary accommodations can be provided.