CLAYTON – The Town of Clayton has received major environmental approvals for its new wastewater facilities.
In January, the State of North Carolina issued a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the program. The state also approved the Environmental Impact Document (EID, also known as an Environmental Assessment), the Engineering Report (ER), and Clayton’s modified NPDES wastewater discharge permit that incorporates the program.
The approvals required participation from a broad group of state and federal agencies, public comment periods for both the FONSI and the NPDES permit modification, and a public workshop. The Town worked for more than a year to compile the materials to support the approvals, with the final report and supporting documentation exceeding 1000 pages.
“We are pleased with this major accomplishment,” Town Manager JD Solomon said. “This is the point where many major projects get bogged down. It is a credit to our staff, consultants and the NC Department of Environmental Quality. Everyone listened to one another, everyone worked together, and everyone was committed to getting this right.”
The program consists of a new water reclamation facility, supporting roads and infrastructure, two major wastewater transmission pipelines, and conversion of the current wastewater treatment plant to a pump station. Final designs can be completed and construction bids can be obtained now that environmental approvals are in place.
Deputy Town Manager Rich Cappola, who is responsible for the Town’s infrastructure, expressed both satisfaction and some anxiety. “We have been building to this point for a long time,” Cappola said. “It is great that we have met this requirement, but it also means that the program will accelerate on several different, parallel fronts now. It is about to get very real.”
Details about the project and Request for Proposals (RFP) are available athttps://www.townofclaytonnc.org/Public-Works/water-reclamation-.aspx
