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HE ORI CK: Just as a matter of record, has your church taken a position as a church body on the
issue?
HICKS: No, we just addressed it yesterday in our worship service to let people be aware of not
so much being opposed to development, because we see that's going to happen, it's just disposing of
the treated waste that we are concerned about.
POPE: Any questions of Mrs. Hicks from the proponents?
MASSEY: Mrs. Hicks, I take it then your church as taken no official position one way or the
other.
HICKS: No, not at this time.
POPE: Any questions of Mrs. Hicks from the opponents?
Mrs. Hicks, do you wish to make any other statements?
HICKS: No, sir.
POPE: Thank you very much. Any other testimony from the opponents?
Any rebuttal testimony?
MASSEY: We don't have any more testimony. We will have a summation (not clear).
POPE: I would like to ask Mr. Stewart a question or two.
Mr. Stewart, you are still sworn. Sir, the question has arisen concerning the treatment of
chemicals in the plant that you have designed for this project, would you address us on how chemi-
cals will be treated?
STEWART: The chemicals you are referring to typical household type?
POPE: Any chemicals that might get flushed down a drain, toilet.
STEWART: The facilities that we have at this point conceptually proposed have not yet been
designed. But the concepts that have been proposed and that are, have, at this point, been made a
part of the permit application, would involve physical, biological, and chemical treatment proces-
ses. Physical being, for example, rough screening of any large materials that for some reason might
get to the treatment plant, rags, or that kind of material. Also filtration is a physical process
by which we would filter out any final minute solids. Chemical in terms of chlorine useage for
disinfection. There are a number of ways for disinfection; however, because of the discharge to the
lake, chlorine represents the most positive means of killing all the bacteria that we would expect
to come from the treatment plant. The main frame of the treatment process will be biological, which
is used on all package plants, in this particular case, I might just point out that the processes
that we are using are not not solely associated with just package treatment. I mean municipalities
also use these basic chemical processes where we were talking about domestic waste. Those
municipalities that have lots of industrial waste may add other processes; for example, the City of
Newton at this time uses a chemical process called lime treatment because of the (not clear) indus-
trial waste there, more specifically textile waste.
In general, the performance of the plants of this type across the state, end there are literal-
ly hundreds of this type facility, on strictly domestic waste have not had any problems in achieving
and meeting the (not clear) and preventing pollution with respect to the typical discharge you would
see receive from normal residences. The concentrations, for example, dishwashing cleaners, and that
kind of thing, are typically not of a character that inhibit or prevent the treatment of the waste.
I have been associated with the investigation of certain circumstances in which you do have that
kind of problem arise. For example, this past year we were involved in a Union County School
project, which because of a change in cafeteria personnel they went to a different type of detergent
for cleaning the dishes, which immediately caused a problem in the plant. But I might just point
out that the concentrations that were involved were of such a magnitude that that's where the
problem arose. I'm not sure I'm answering your question.
POPE: I don't think you've answered it yet. The question is not the manner of treating the
organic matter, but the manner of treating the non-organic matter. The manner of treating the
chemicals that will get spilled or poured into the drain or whatever. How will those chemicals be
removed from the water before the water is discharged into the lake?
STEWART: If I might just say it over again, the concentrations, I suppose that there is a
remote possibility that some contaminant could be poured down, for example if somebody poured a jar
of mercury down the drain, which would be a pretty unusual circumstance, that the plant would have
problems with that, there's no question. But the typical cleaners and what not that are found in
households and are used regularly, the plants processes, biological, physical, and chemical, remove
those. They are eventually disposed of in terms of the ultimate solids disposed of which, as we
explained originally, are taken away from this plant. They are not disposed of at this plant.
That may be a question that you would like to addross to hike. If they have had situations on
similar facilities, not only on the lake, but other places where they are treating domestic waste,
' have they had a situation occur where a chemical from a typical hour=hold has come through. As far
as I know, we have not had that type situation.