Wastewater facility to stop using chlorine

When the Central Valley Wastewater Treatment Facility makes the change from purifying treated wastewater with chlorine gas to ultraviolet light, it will make the Center for American Progress happy.

The Center for American Progress released a list Wednesday of the 101 most dangerous facilities in the United States for use of industrial chemicals.

Central Valley was the only Utah facility on that list and landed there because of its current use of chlorine gas as one of the final steps in wastewater treatment. The gas is corrosive and if humans are exposed, it can burn the lungs, eyes, skin and can be fatal.

Three other Utah facilities landed on a list of 202 "highly hazardous" places: Thatcher Chemical, located in Salt Lake City; the Chevron Texaco Refinery, in Salt Lake City; and the Holly Woods Cross Refinery.

American Progress says there are plenty of safer alternatives for many chemicals, which terrorists could use to create "home-grown" weapons against Americans. It's a similar theory to hijacking commercial airliners as missiles.

But a big difference, says study author Paul Orum, a chemical safety engineer, is that while airplanes can't be removed from society, industry has the power to remove the chemicals from use so they don't pose a threat.

Central Valley general manager Reed Fisher agrees. But his reasoning for moving away from chlorine gas isn't because his facility landed on a list.

He's always been aware of the danger of chlorine gas.

Hoses and valves are changed every six months, he says. And since 2001, he has stepped up security measures at the treatment facility.

But the last time the facility came under fire, in a 2003 report by Environmental Defense, Fisher said it wasn't economical to change from chlorine usage to ultraviolet light. Back then, a UV system would have cost $19 million before installation.

The system whose design was just completed for the facility is expected to cost $3 million. The design is being sent to the Utah Department of Health and will be reviewed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

In January, Fisher expects to bid out the installation of the UV system, which could tack on at least $5 million to the project.

By early 2010, the system should be up and running.

"We're anxious to treat the waste, protect the environment and do it as economically for the public at the same time," Fisher said.