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Camas upgrading wastewater facility

$12M project will make it more environmentally friendly, produce fertilizer

By Marissa Harshman, Columbian Health Reporter
Published: June 21, 2010, 12:00am

The city of Camas has begun improvements to its wastewater treatment facility that will make the plant more environmentally friendly and allow it to produce fertilizer to be used locally.

The $12 million project will increase solids capacity to meet the projected needs of the city for the next 20 years, convert the digester process to produce high-quality biosolids and upgrade technology and software, said Eric Levison, Camas public works director.

Construction of the improvements has begun and is expected to wrap up in early 2012, Levison said. The facility was built in the 1970s.

The city was recently named the recipient of a $3.5 million loan from the Washington Department of Ecology. About $1.77 million of the loan is forgiven principal, meaning the city does not need to repay the money, City Administrator Lloyd Halverson said. The remainder of the 20-year loan has an interest rate of 2.8 percent, he said.

The majority of the project is funded by a $10 million loan from the Washington State Public Works Board to be repaid at 0.5 of a percent interest over the next 20 years. The city will use reserve funds and bonds to cover any remaining costs, Levison said.

The improved plant will use an anaerobic process, which does not require oxygen, as opposed to an aerobic process that uses oxygen. The change means the new facility will produce class A biosolids, which are safe to use as fertilizer for nearly all applications, Levison said. Anaerobic microorganisms will decompose the organic pollutants. The remaining material will then be moved to a belt dryer, which will produce small pellets.

The production of class A biosolids — as opposed to the class B the city produces now — will end up saving the city money. Class B material, which is about 20 percent water, has more restrictions about where it can be applied. In 2009, the city spent $86,000 to dispose of the biosolids at a tree farm in Centralia.

The class A biosolids could potentially be applied as fertilizer in city parks or be sold or given to citizens or landscaping businesses. The city will decide how the biosolids will be disposed of as the project nears completion, likely about this time next year, Levison said.

The plant will be just one of two facilities in the county that produces class A biosolids. La Center’s treatment facility also produces the dried pellets, however, it uses a different technology. The solids are used as fertilizer at a tree farm.

“Class A is new in this area, but it’s catching on at the state level,” Levison said.

In addition to reducing costs, the improved plant will also include green technology, which was a factor in the city receiving the Department of Ecology grant, Levison said. The methane gas produced through the digestion process will provide heat in the temperature-controlled building, maintain the digester and provide the natural gas needed to operate the dryer, he said.

“These upgrades keep us up with technology and help keep the environment clean,” Levison said.

Marissa Harshman: 360-735-4546 or marissa.harshman@columbian.com.

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Columbian Health Reporter