Georgetown, Del., Nov. 14, 2008: Sussex County’s South Coastal Regional Wastewater Facility is No. 1 when it comes to the sewage treatment business.

The facility near Ocean View recently won the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Region III Operations and Maintenance Excellence Award for 2008, one of only two in a five-state region to win the honor.

Representatives with the EPA Region III office presented the award to Sussex County Administrator David B. Baker and other County officials during a brief ceremony Friday, Nov. 14. The award to South Coastal, for the Medium Advance Treatment Category (1 million to 10 million gallons per day), is one of only two awarded among the 3,888 facilities within the region that includes Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C.

It is the second EPA award for South Coastal in the past 10 years. The EPA awarded the same honor to the facility in 1999.

“Sussex County is honored to receive this award, and to be a leader among thousands of other operators across the mid-Atlantic region,” Mr. Baker said. “I believe this distinction being awarded twice in the last decade is a testament to our employees’ skills and their consistency in providing a quality, necessary service to the people of Sussex County.”

The EPA weighed a number of factors in evaluating South Coastal, from its lack of permit violations during the past two years to the way many on staff are cross-trained to operate different aspects of the facility. The evaluation included an exhaustive review of all plant records for the past two years, as well as its operations procedures and maintenance logs.

“It’s nice that the EPA recognizes our commitment to protecting the natural resources of Sussex County,” said Heather L. Sheridan, director of Sussex County’s Environmental Services division. “It’s not often that wastewater is in the news. Unfortunately when it is, what people tend to hear about are spills and violations. We’re proud to receive this award today, which is the result of the staff’s creativity, technical expertise and an exemplary work ethic.”

Ms. Sheridan said the plant’s performance is the product of hard work by its approximately 49 employees, who keep everything flowing smoothly 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“Sussex County residents, taxpayers and the users of our sewer districts should be proud of the Operations and Maintenance staff of this facility,” Ms. Sheridan said. “Without them, the South Coastal Facility would not have such a consistently high quality effluent and receive excellent evaluations from the state and EPA.”

South Coastal serves about 20,000 customers, equaling more than 77,000 people, in southeastern Sussex County. The plant treats anywhere from 2 million gallons of wastewater a day during the winter months to as much as 4 million gallons a day at the peak of the summer tourist season.

South Coastal is permitted to discharge up to 9 million gallons of water a day. A $21 million construction project completed last year expanded the facility’s treatment capacity by 50 percent, from 6 million gallons daily to the present 9 million gallons a day.

South Coastal RWF is one of four wastewater facilities operated by Sussex County, all of which treat and safely dispose of more than 7 million gallons of wastewater each day.

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