By SAM OCHSTEIN, Tribune Staff Writer
PLYMOUTH, Mass., Nov 27, 2000 (South Bend Tribune) — Donnie Davidson is wondering where $300,000 or more is going to come from to help keep the city waste-water treatment facility on Oakhill Avenue up and running each year if Procter & Gamble closes its plant here.
Davidson, the Plymouth waste- water superintendent, said Monday that waste-water rates are based on the level of pollutants a customer emits. Customers that are above the normal level of 240 milligrams per liter, are accessed an extra charge based on the amount of excess pollutants.
Davidson said that the Procter & Gamble plant, located on North Oak Road, produces a very high level of organic waste material, because it's a food processing facility.
And a high level of waste material translates into a large sum of money for the waste-water treatment facility.
Procter & Gamble announced last week that it would close its Plymouth plant by May.
Davidson said even if Procter & Gamble isn't in Plymouth, he still needs revenue generated from the plant's operation to run operate the city's waste-water treatment facility.
A breakdown of Procter & Gamble's monthly water and waste- water bills from 1999 indicates that the company paid more than $347,000 for water and waste water. Waste water alone constituted more than $291,000 of the total.
A similar statement for 2000 showed that Procter & Gamble has paid more than $350,000 through October for water and waste water; with more than $308,000 going just to waste-water treatment.
Losing more than $300,000 of revenue will put the hurt on Davidson.
"We can't just shut down," he said Monday. "We have to use the entire plant, even if Procter & Gamble isn't using our water."
Davidson said that the waste- water treatment facility is specially designed to handle high concentrations of organic waste because of food processing industries in Plymouth like Procter & Gamble, Dean Pickle and Del Monte.
"We treat two to three times more (organic wastes) than other small cities," Davidson said.
And even if Procter & Gamble isn't around, the costs of maintaining the waste-water treatment facility won't decrease, he said.
"Hopefully another food processing company or some company that's similar will take their place," Davidson said.
© 2000 South Bend Tribune. via Bell&Howell Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved
