The New Normal – Operating and Maintaining The Mallard Creek Water Reclamation Facility After A Pcb Contamination

Charlotte Water (CLTWater) has been managing a significant contamination event at the Mallard Creek Water Reclamation Facility (MCWRF) since February 6, 2014. An oily substance with very high levels of Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB) was illicitly discharged to the facility’s collection system through a grease trap. Due to the high concentration of PCBs, CLTWater must respond to the event following the requirements outlined in the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). CLTWater has spent the last three years dealing with the different phases of response including the initial emergency, the recovery or immediate aftermath during which contaminated materials were disposed of and a plan for decontamination was developed, and most recently the on-going facility decontamination project.This manuscript discusses the impacts of the contamination on operating, maintaining, and engineering the collection system and MCWRF and the strategies that CLTWater is implementing to minimize or eliminate the impacts. CLTWater’s PCB contamination demonstrates the potential for any utility to experience an illicit discharge and how significant the impacts can be. The information presented in the manuscript will help other utilities to be better prepared and, therefore, become more resilient.