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Delaware News



  Category: Division of Water


DNREC raises public awareness of Lewes WTTP effluent bypass discharge, closes Delaware Bay shellfish harvest areas

Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control | Division of Water | Division of Watershed Stewardship | Date Posted: Monday, December 23, 2019

DOVER – The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control was notified Wednesday, Dec. 18 of equipment malfunctions at the Lewes wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) that the facility operator, Tidewater Inc., was working to correct. Due to the nature of the affected equipment, the malfunction could not be expeditiously resolved, which required the Lewes WWTP to begin bypassing stages of its treatment, and begin discharging partially-treated wastewater effluent from the facility the evening of Thursday, Dec. 19.




DNREC, Mountaire Farms of Delaware, Inc. enter into agreements on violations at Mountaire poultry processing facilities

Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control | Division of Water | Date Posted: Monday, December 16, 2019

The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control signed an agreement with Mountaire Farms of Delaware, Inc. Dec. 13 to resolve spray irrigation and land application permit violations cited by DNREC in a Nov. 2, 2017 Notice of Violation (NOV). DNREC first took action against Mountaire for these violations via the filing of a complaint in Delaware Superior Court against Mountaire in June 2018. The complaint was stayed by Superior Court pending resolution of a parallel action in Federal Court. To formalize ongoing and required corrective actions resulting from the September 2017 wastewater treatment plan failure, DNREC and Mountaire have finalized an agreement based on the consent decree proposed in June 2018. The agreement includes three major components – mitigation, environmentally-beneficial offset, and an administrative penalty and costs. Mountaire is required to mitigate damage to the environment through short-term and long-term corrective measures. In the short term, Mountaire must continue the interim corrective measures required by DNREC that have been ongoing since October 2017. Mountaire must also make long-term system upgrades to the plant, including the requirement for environmental mitigation through the relocation of Mountaire’s production wells within the spray fields to establish a pump and treat system.




Source Water Protection Subcommittee to meet Dec. 12 in Dover

Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control | Division of Water | Date Posted: Monday, December 9, 2019

The Source Water Assessment Plan (SWAP) Subcommittee of the Source Water Assessment and Protection Program will meet from 10 a.m. to noon, Thursday, Dec. 12




DNREC announces release of preliminary data from USGS unconfined aquifer water quality study

Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control | Division of Water | Date Posted: Friday, November 15, 2019

DNREC’s Division of Water announced the release of preliminary data from the United States Geological Survey unconfined aquifer water quality study.




Citizens Source Water Protection Committee to meet Nov. 13 in Dover

Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control | Division of Water | Date Posted: Friday, November 1, 2019

The Source Water Protection Citizens and Technical Advisory Committee of the Source Water Assessment and Protection Program will meet Nov. 13.







  Category: Division of Water

DNREC raises public awareness of Lewes WTTP effluent bypass discharge, closes Delaware Bay shellfish harvest areas

Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control | Division of Water | Division of Watershed Stewardship | Date Posted: Monday, December 23, 2019

DOVER – The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control was notified Wednesday, Dec. 18 of equipment malfunctions at the Lewes wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) that the facility operator, Tidewater Inc., was working to correct. Due to the nature of the affected equipment, the malfunction could not be expeditiously resolved, which required the Lewes WWTP to begin bypassing stages of its treatment, and begin discharging partially-treated wastewater effluent from the facility the evening of Thursday, Dec. 19.




DNREC, Mountaire Farms of Delaware, Inc. enter into agreements on violations at Mountaire poultry processing facilities

Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control | Division of Water | Date Posted: Monday, December 16, 2019

The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control signed an agreement with Mountaire Farms of Delaware, Inc. Dec. 13 to resolve spray irrigation and land application permit violations cited by DNREC in a Nov. 2, 2017 Notice of Violation (NOV). DNREC first took action against Mountaire for these violations via the filing of a complaint in Delaware Superior Court against Mountaire in June 2018. The complaint was stayed by Superior Court pending resolution of a parallel action in Federal Court. To formalize ongoing and required corrective actions resulting from the September 2017 wastewater treatment plan failure, DNREC and Mountaire have finalized an agreement based on the consent decree proposed in June 2018. The agreement includes three major components – mitigation, environmentally-beneficial offset, and an administrative penalty and costs. Mountaire is required to mitigate damage to the environment through short-term and long-term corrective measures. In the short term, Mountaire must continue the interim corrective measures required by DNREC that have been ongoing since October 2017. Mountaire must also make long-term system upgrades to the plant, including the requirement for environmental mitigation through the relocation of Mountaire’s production wells within the spray fields to establish a pump and treat system.




Source Water Protection Subcommittee to meet Dec. 12 in Dover

Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control | Division of Water | Date Posted: Monday, December 9, 2019

The Source Water Assessment Plan (SWAP) Subcommittee of the Source Water Assessment and Protection Program will meet from 10 a.m. to noon, Thursday, Dec. 12




DNREC announces release of preliminary data from USGS unconfined aquifer water quality study

Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control | Division of Water | Date Posted: Friday, November 15, 2019

DNREC’s Division of Water announced the release of preliminary data from the United States Geological Survey unconfined aquifer water quality study.




Citizens Source Water Protection Committee to meet Nov. 13 in Dover

Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control | Division of Water | Date Posted: Friday, November 1, 2019

The Source Water Protection Citizens and Technical Advisory Committee of the Source Water Assessment and Protection Program will meet Nov. 13.