As promised in December, we are committed to being good neighbors in the community by being transparent about what we do and the facility’s operations. We are dedicated to determining if any odors in the community originate from our facility – if any odors are coming from DRT, we will own that problem and aggressively fix it with transparency.
At a Glance
- Trinity consultants began their odor evaluation
- DRT upgraded its wastewater processes
- The EPD released a new report
- DRT engages in community events
Wastewater Basin Update
DRT is completing work to bypass the basins that stored wastewater from the plant. Pursuant to the plant’s industrial wastewater pretreatment permit, the fiberglass basins were a containment site for the plant’s wastewater before it was trucked offsite for treatment. Going forward, the process water will, like the rest of the plant, be piped through an enclosed system. The basins are now being cleaned to remove any wastewater residue and corresponding odor.
- Why are we doing this? While the basins are enclosed in a concrete secondary containment area, the wastewater basins are a potential odor source due to the wastewater’s exposure to the air. In line with our commitment, we are eliminating this potential odor source by bypassing the basins and redirecting wastewater directly to the storage tank.
Read more here.
DRT Initiates Comprehensive Third-Party Odor Evaluation in Springfield/Rincon Area
Trinity Consultants, a nationally known engineering firm, was onsite over the last couple weeks kicking off an odor evaluation in and around DRT’s Springfield facility. While we certainly know our facility well, we found it important to have a fresh set of eyes inspect the facility, top to bottom, end to end, to see if there is anything else we might be missing. Trinity will also perform odor surveying in the community and weather modeling to better understand the observed odors. Read more here.
Latest EPD Report
See EPD’s February 12th report, “Effingham County Odor Investigation” here.
Community Engagement
As part of our commitment to being a good neighbor, we evaluated our engagement with the community and identified clear steps to help out where possible.
Recent engagements:
- Donation to local food bank, Effingham Senior Citizens Center and St. Boniface Catholic Church
- Platinum sponsor of Effingham Day at the Capitol
- Night in Effingham sponsorship
- United Way emergency fund donation