Pilgrim's Pride, Localities Unite to Build Wastewater Plant
Reprinted from the Bay Journal
written by Rona Cobell on Oct. 23, 2013
 |
| The Moorefield wastewater treatment plant became operational in October of this year. |
Moorefield, WV, is a small town that faced a problem many small towns encounter: How to pay for a new, expensive wastewater treatment system when residents' wallets are already stretched by high taxes and low salaries.
But the way it solved its problem makes Moorefield unique. The town of 5,000 residents partnered with a company, Pilgrim's Pride, and two other nearby systems, all of which needed to improve their waste treatment.
Together they built a $40 million treatment system that will reduce total nitrogen loads by 90,000 pounds a year and total phosphorus by 93,000 pounds a year. The system will compost much of its own waste and sell the products, as well as reuse some of its water to save money.
The system prepares to go online this month, after 13 long years in the making. West Virginia environmental officials say it is the first enhanced nutrient removal system in the state. Another is likely coming to Martinsburg in the next few years. Many environmental activists say, it's long overdue.
To read full article and visit the Bay Journal website,
