The Colorado Department of Health and Environment has finally approved a site application for a local wastewater treatment plant.From the time the application was submitted, it took a year and one half for approval, said Art Sintas, Cherokee Metropolitan District supervisor of water and wastewater operations. ìThe plans have been approved, and we can now move forward,î Sintas said.CMD is sharing the costs of the project. CMD will operate 54 percent of the plant, and Meridian will operate the other 46 percent.Sintas said the purpose of building a new wastewater treatment plant is two-fold. The existing plant, adjacent to Sand Creek, south of Highway 24 and west of Peterson Air Force Base, discharges into Sand Creek and all the way into Fountain Creek. CMD can no longer meet the standards set by Fountain Creek, Sintas said, adding that the new plant will replenish water back into the Upper Black Squirrel Creek Basin.Construction is scheduled to start in October, with completion estimated for the end of 2009. The new wastewater treatment plant is situated on 160 acres at the intersection of Milne and Drennan Roads, three miles south and three miles east of Schriever Air Force Base.ìThe new plant will service the same area and also the build-out for new construction,î Sintas said.The current plant holds 1.5 million gallons per day. The new plantís capacity is 4.8 million gallons per day.The new facility could benefit other area wastewater treatment facilities. Ellen Robley, district manager of Paint Brush Hills Metropolitan District, said the Paint Brush Hills Wastewater Treatment Plant is co-owned by PBHMD and Woodmen Hills Metropolitan District. The Paintbrush Hills plant serves about 3,250 residents and businesses, Robley said.PBHMD built the treatment facility in the late 1980s, she said. Shortly after completion, WHMD bought half the plant, which is on Meridian Ranch property at the northeast corner of Stapleton Road and Meridian Ranch Boulevard.ìWeíre all joined in a unique legal way,î Robley said.The PBHMD and WHMD facility has the capacity to serve its current customers, except additional Meridian Ranch subdivision build-outs. The new CMC facility will service the build-out.ìThe current plant (for Paint Brush and Woodmen Hills) setup will be unable to meet certain water quality specifications, as mandated by the state in the recently issued discharge permit, which covers the next five-year period,î Robley said. ìUpgrading the plant ñ or abandonment ñ may be required at some point in the future. An engineering study, also mandated by the state, is currently in the works to evaluate various future options for the plant.îRobley said she isnít sure of the direction the current service will take, but changes in service could happen. If they decide to abandon the facility, service would be transferred to another.ìI canít say for sure that the current households would remain with the PBH plant, but itís possible ñ independent decisions will be made by the metropolitan districts.îKathy Hare, president of the Upper Black Squirrel Ground Water Management District, said the CMD plant will take effluent from Falcon, treat it and then release the water to a portion of the UBS basin in a manner that will benefit the CMD. She said the UBS board wants the wastewater to be treated to the highest standards, as set forth by the state health department. The treated water should be piped to the northern end of the UBS basin to recharge the entire basin, she added.
