DEQ wants public comments on McAAP plan to increase discharge into Bull Creek

By Jeremy Higgins
Assistant Editor

June 24, 2008 12:03 pm

— The McAlester Army Ammunition Plant has requested an increase in the permitted discharge flow of their trickling-filter wastewater treatment facility. The waste empties into Bull Creek below Brown Lake Dam in Pittsburg County in the Lower Canadian watershed.
Currently, the permitted discharge flow of the facility is .35 million gallons per day and McAAP has requested that the amount be increased to .559 million gallons per day. The Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality has set up a public comment period which began Monday and runs through Aug. 8.
According to the notice, The U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine and the DEQ conducted a waste load allocation study which determines the maximum amount of pollutants in treated wastewater that can safely be discharged into a water body without adversely affecting its quality.
The notice also says DEQ, along with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, has evaluated Bull Creek, its flow, and the pollutants to develop these recommended discharge limits.
“This is a slight increase, which is common when a facility expands,” Skylar McElhaney with the DEQ said. “When a facility requests an increase, the DEQ conducts a wastle load allocation to determine the maximum amount of pollutants and treated wastewater that can safely be discharged into a water body without adversly affecting the quality of that body of water.”
Public comments can be made by calling 405-570-1546.
Contact Jeremy Higgins at jhiggins@mcalesternews.com.