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Project Title: Effluent Treatment System (FFS #R4PD)
State: Tennessee
Initial Project Description: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will use American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) funds to construct a new water treatment system at the Dale Hollow National Fish Hatchery (NFH) near Celina, Tennessee. The new system will prevent fish waste from flowing into the Obey River and will also stockpile nitrogen-rich fertilizer, which will be given away free to farmers to spread on their crops, therefore improving the region’s water quality.
The Service awarded the project to MWH Constructors of Chicago, Illinois. MWH sub-contracted project work to Putnam Contracting Services LLC of Cookeville, Tennessee.
Martin Ing, co-owner of Putnam Contracting, said his small business was on the verge of having to lay off some of its approximately 20 employees earlier this year when the contract came through.
“We are very grateful for the stimulus funds that have enabled us to keep meeting our payroll, and to be a part of this valuable project,” Ing said. “With the contract, we were able to retain all of our workers and even hire one more person.”
Putnam Contracting Services LLC began laying the foundation and building the drum filter building on the hatchery grounds in October 2010.
“We’re delighted to have Putnam Contracting back at Dale Hollow [NFH],” said Hatchery Manager, Andrew Currie. “They have done projects for us in the past, but none as important as this one, which is going to benefit both the Obey River and the farmers in our area.”
When the new treatment system is completed, waste water from the hatchery’s 104 raceways, will be diverted into the treatment building and the solids will be spun off from the water. The clean water will flow into the Obey River, and the solids will go into a settling pond, where they will be dried out and given away to local farmers. Currie said local farmers started signing up for the free fertilizer before ground was broken on the new system. The hatchery’s raceways will produce approximately 2 million trout this year.
While construction is taking place, public access to the fishing area below the hatchery has been restricted.
March 2011 Project Update: During the month of February, Putnam Contracting Services LLC made significant progress on the effluent treatment system project. They completed the tie-ins between the drum filter building and raceway clean-out lines. The drum filters are operational, and a lot of the final finish work inside of the drum filter building is complete. In addition, Putnam Contracting Services LLC put the hatchery security fence back in place, and leveled, seeded, and mulched much of the area disturbed by the construction. The schedule calls for stopping all work on March 11. During the week of April 24, work will begin on the hatchery effluent channel. Putnam Contracting Services LLC will stabilize the stream bank to repair the effects of erosion of the hatchery’s receiving stream, and build a handicapped-accessible fishing pier. The pier, which will be built with visitor facility enhancement funding, cannot be built until the stream bank stabilizes.
September 2011 Project Update: The project to build an effluent treatment system at Dale Hollow NFH is almost complete with final grading and seeding of the disturbed areas expected to take place in October 2011, when weather conditions are more favorable to grading.
According to Currie, “The project has significantly reduced the discoloration and turbidity in the receiving stream [that] occurs during the hatchery raceway cleaning process, allowing the hatchery to be in compliance with the Tennessee Clean Water Act. Cleaning up the water being discharged from the hatchery will improve the outdoor experiences of people using the area for recreational purposes and should result in an increase in public use over time. Outdoor recreation is a very important source of income for Clay County, Tennessee. Providing accumulated biosolids to local farmers will also have a very positive economic impact.”
In addition to providing biosolids to local farmers and jobs for the workers of Putnam Contracting Services, the project also provided jobs to local contractors, helping to stimulate the local economy.
For more information, view the Dale Hollow NFH website
Photos:
News Release: Recovery Act Funds New Water Treatment System at Dale Hollow National Fish Hatchery; Local Farmers and Environment to Benefit
Originally posted 04/07/2010
Updated 10/15/2010
Updated 11/29/2010
Updated 03/07/2011
Updated 09/13/2011
