The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control’s Division of Water will conduct a public hearing (Docket # 2023-P-W-0014) to consider comments from the public on the reissuance of the City of Seaford Wastewater Treatment Facility National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit.

City of Seaford has applied for reissuance of its National Pollutant Discharge System (NPDES) Permit No. DE0020265 (State Number WPCC 3161G/74) to discharge treated wastewater from its Wastewater Treatment Facility, located at 403 Nanticoke Avenue in Seaford, Sussex County, Delaware, to the Nanticoke River. The treatment facility treats domestic waste from Seaford, and from the communities of Blades, Greenwood, and Bridgeville. The facility also receives wastewater from industrial users and maintains a pretreatment program as required by federal regulations. The waste sludge generated is dewatered and transported to Sussex County’s Inland Bays Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility for final processing and disposal. Seaford maintains its Distribution & Marketing permit for sludge handling/composting as a secondary back up option.

Public notice of the Department’s receipt of the application and of reaching a tentative permitting determination was published in the Wilmington News Journal and the Delaware State News on May 24, 2023. The Department received comments and one request for a public hearing on June 22, 2023.

For additional information on the above matter and to review this application, the proposed draft permit, fact sheet, and supporting documents visit de.gov/dnrechearings or contact George Mwangi, Division of Water, Commercial and Government Services Section, 89 Kings Hwy., Dover, DE 19901, by phone at (302) 739-9946, or by email at George.Mwangi@delaware.gov.

The virtual public hearing will be held on Wednesday, September 27, 2023, beginning at 6:00 p.m. The web link to the virtual hearing can be accessed through the DNREC Public Hearings site at de.gov/dnrechearings. If prompted for a Passcode, please use: 047184. To access the audio-only portion of the virtual hearing, dial 1-305-224-1968 and enter Meeting ID: 980 1784 3711 (Passcode: 047184). Closed captioning in over 20 languages, including English and Spanish, is available to attendees via the Zoom platform utilized for all DNREC Public Hearings.

Those wishing to offer verbal comments during DNREC public hearings must pre-register no later than noon of the date of the virtual hearing at de.gov/dnreccomments or by telephone at 302-739-9295.

The Department will accept public comment through the close of business on Friday, October 13, 2023. Comments will be accepted in written form via email to DNRECHearingComments@delaware.gov, or by using the online form at de.gov/dnreccomments, or by U.S. mail to the following address:

Lisa A. Vest, Hearing Officer
Office of the Secretary
Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control
89 Kings Highway
Dover, DE 19901

Related Topics:  nanticoke, NPDES, permitting and regulation, public comments, public hearing, public notice, seaford, wastewater treatment, water