PK Lake public hearing on city of Abilene TCEQ permit renewal Tuesday

PK Lake public hearing on city of Abilene TCEQ permit renewal Tuesday News Staff Fri, 06/14/2024 - 9:54 am

• (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO) Surface water intake and outfall (circled) locations on Possum Kingdom Lake with the city of Abilene's Possum Kingdom Raw Water Roughing Facility. A public hearing will be held Tuesday, June 18 at the Possum Kingdom Chamber of Commerce regarding a permit renewal.

Thomas Wallner editor@grahamleader.com

Residents of Possum Kingdom Lake will have an opportunity to make comments at a public hearing next week regarding a permit renewal for the Possum Kingdom Raw Water Roughing Facility, which will discharge into Possum Kingdom Lake.

The city of Abilene is requesting a renewal of their Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) Texas Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (TPDES) permit, which authorizes the discharge of water treatment waste and an annual flow not to exceed 1,510,000 gallons per day.

“The effluent is proposed to be discharged directly to Possum Kingdom Lake in Segment No. 1207 of the Brazos River Basin,” the TCEQ public hearing notice states. “The designated uses for Segment No. 1207 are primary contact recreation, public water supply and high aquatic life use.”

The city of Abilene is proposing to operate their raw water roughing microfiltration and reverse osmosis facility in Breckenridge with discharges from the facility expected to contain total dissolved solids, chloride and sulfate. Other waste streams will be diverted to the city of Breckenridge Wastewater Treatment Plant.

In December 2014, the Abilene City Council approved a resolution authorizing the interim city manager to negotiate with Pepper Lawson Waterworks, LCC to serve as the Construction Manager at Risk for the Possum Kingdom Raw Water Roughing Facility. The facility was part of the strategy to bring water from PK Lake to Abilene, which was under drought conditions.

The reverse osmosis concentrate line is a project being completed in two phases, with the initial phase beginning at PK Lake, continuing north and then west paralleling FM 1148. Part one of the project was completed in August 2023 at a cost of $2.6 million.

Phase one included the installation of approximately 15,000 linear feet of 12-inch diameter pipeline, installation of submerged piping and a discharge manifold into PK Lake.

Phase two of the project, with a budget of $3.6 million, is scheduled to begin Wednesday, Dec. 11 and has an estimated completion date of Jan. 8, 2025. The project will be from FM 1148 between Hwy. 67 and PK Lake.

Phase two will include the installation of about 15,000 linear feet of 12-inch diameter pipeline. With the TPDES permit held by the city it will discharge the reverse osmosis concentrate produced by the Possum Kingdom Raw Water Roughing Facility into PK Lake.

The TCEQ executive director completed a technical review of the application and prepared a draft permit which, if approved, would establish conditions under which the facility in Breckenridge must operate. According to the notice, the permit meets all statutory and regulatory requirements.

The public meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 18 at the PK Lake Chamber of Commerce. The meeting will have an information discussion period and a formal comment period.

During the formal comment period members of the public can make their comments on the official record with a written response possible by the executive director for timely, relevant or significant comments.

All formal comments will be considered before a decision is reached on the permit application. A copy of the written response will be sent to each person who submits a formal comment or who requested to be on the mailing list for the permit application and provides a mailing address.

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