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Breckenridge wastewater plant project may be completed ahead of schedule

ROBERT ALLEN
summit daily news
Summit Daily/Mark Fox
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FARMER’S KORNER – The $34 million wastewater treatment plant under construction across from Summit High School is to be complete – possibly under budget – by July.

“It’s a massive project,” said Andy Carlberg, Upper Blue Sanitation District manager. “It’s one of the biggest in Summit County history.”

Construction has been under way since summer 2009, and the project has been financed through tap fees.



It is to expand the district’s treatment capacity from 2 million to 5 million gallons per day to meet the demands of growing communities in and near Blue River, Breckenridge and Farmer’s Korner.

The contract has the project finishing by Dec. 31, 2011, but Carlberg said it may be complete by July.



About 40 people are working at the site, and about half of them are local, Carlberg said. He said there’s been emphasis on keeping workers and supply purchases local.

The building structure is to arrive in early October. Carlberg said it’s anticipated the expansion area will be sealed dry from outside conditions by December.

The plant is under construction next to the Farmer’s Korner Waste Water Treatment Facility, which opened in the mid-1970s. That building could get upgrades to its exterior to help its appearance match the new one.

Like the existing facility, the plant is to treat incoming liquid before mixing it with water from the nearby Blue River. The mixture is released into Dillon Reservoir at an area near the highway.

The district’s Iowa Hill plant in Breckenridge was activated in 2000.

The project beginning expansion of the district’s sewer lines into Blue River is nearing the end of its first phase. Up to 600 taps are to be added by the multi-year project’s end.

“We’re actually protecting the Town of Breckenridge’s water supply by doing that,” Carlberg said, adding that failed septic systems have recently been a problem.

SDN reporter Robert Allen can be contacted at (970) 668-4628 or rallen@summitdaily.com.


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