Pender County Comprehensive Land Use Plan Wastewater Master Plan McKim & Creed also assisted the County with development of a 2005-2030 Wastewater Master Plan adopted in July 2006. The Plan notes that the County needs a ―municipal wastewater service to support growth, which is relatively incompatible with traditional small-scale individual on-site disposal systems‖. The Plan also notes that development of a collection and treatment system would help safeguard the rich natural resources of the County. The Plan projects wastewater flows, identifies wastewater system needs, evaluates wastewater treatment and dispersal alternatives, provides opinions of probably cost, and a schedule for implementation of the recommended alternatives. The Plan identifies four county owned and operated wastewater pumping stations serving Del Labs, Cape Fear Middle School, Heidi Trask Senior High School, and the NC 133 / US 117 regional pump station that all collect wastewater and pump to the City of Wilmington’s Northside Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) for treatment. The Plan also notes that several package treatment plants and on-site dispersal systems are operated by private developments or businesses within the County. The Plan considered a number of alternatives for treatment and dispersal of wastewater including collaborative efforts with a municipality – Wilmington, Wallace, Burgaw or Surf City. Stand-alone alternatives were considered including 1) single central system versus multiple decentralized systems; 2) secondary treatment versus advanced treatment; 3) surface discharge versus land-based non-discharge, 4) dedicated land-based dispersal versus non-dedicated unrestricted reuse; and 5) dispersal by irrigation versus infiltration. Total countywide demand for wastewater treatment in 2030 was estimated at over 13 million gallons per day (see Wastewater Master Plan Exhibit 2 2030 Township Wastewater Flows included here for reference). Master plan recommendations included that the County enter into agreements with selected developers to fund the design and construction of two new wastewater treatment facilities that would later need to be upgraded along with an expansion of collection systems into other areas of the County (see Master Wastewater Plan Exhibit 6 Recommended Wastewater System included here for reference). By 2030, the Plan projected that the County would need to operate two 6.0 million gallons per day treatment facilities along with multiple regional wastewater pumping stations and infiltration ponds along with a conveyance system to the Town of Wallace. Due to the recent economic downturn, developer participation interest has weakened. Total cost estimate over the 25 year planning period was estimated at $350 million.
Appendix B: 69