Dear Richmond neighbors,
On Monday July 23rd, we will begin the second phase of cleaning digester #2. This project is necessary in advance of installing a second Dystor cover system at the Richmond Wastewater Treatment Plant, located at 601 Canal Boulevard. You may recall this digester cleaning process began late last October and was suspended in November due to operational issues experienced at that time.
The company chosen to complete the cleaning of the digester is Synagro-WWT, Inc. and they are highly sensitive to odor control needs at the plant and in the community. Synagro completed two projects for Veolia Richmond last year, both involving processes equipped with full odor recovery similar to this project. The cleaning process is expected to take approximately two weeks, but work will be suspended and adjustments made if odor/H2S issues arise which affect the fence line monitors or our neighbors.
Please understand that while there is the potential for odor generation, this process is substantially different than the solids processing last year which involved active treatment of process sludge which is very odorous. The digester sludge is more stable and, in fact, almost dry because digester #2 has been offline since the fourth quarter of 2010. We will be working closely with City representatives and the local Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) inspector on this project.
If you have any questions, please contact us at (510) 412-2001 or visit our web site at www.richmond.veoliawaterna.com.
Please note that actual odor complaints are best directed to the odor complaint hotline at (510) 412-2001 so that they can be properly and most efficiently logged and investigated. Odor complaints can also be made to the BAAQMD at 1-800-334-6367.
Respectfully,
Aaron Winer
Project Manager
Russ Clifton
Assistant Project Manager