The ink was hardly dry on the Orange Beach-State of Alabama land swap when Orange Beach launched  the clearing of 40 acres for the new waste water treatment plant.

IED Construction from Foley made the first move following six inches of rain. They backhoed some runnels to catch the excess water, and then felled the trees, trimmed and stacked them. 

The pine trees will be used for pulp and the small hardwoods sawed into firewood for the neighbors. Jack Robertson and Carl Phillips of IED are demonstrating that a community spirit in not wasting anything. 

In a time frame of 18 months the new waste water treatment will replace the old facility located near canal off the           Silvers Road. The new facility will be located one-half mile south and slightly west of the old. It will double the receiving capacity of the old by five million gallons per day, and anticipates the future demand of facilities such as The Wharf, Cypress Village, Homestead development proposal, condo towers along the beach — — which are now coming out of the ground, and will be finished in 2008-9 — and several others still on the planning and zoning roster. 

Waste water treatment Manager Jeff Hartley said that the capacity will be adequate for the long-range needs, and also will have reduced odor because the headworks for the incoming waste water will be enclosed. The physical plant will be located on only 29 acres, and leaves much of the surrounding acreage in its natural state, Hartley said. The natural acreage blends in with the Hugh S. Branyon Back Country Trail to the south, he said.

The effluent of the treated waste (discharge) runs through an ultraviolet system which is routed into the canal perfectly pure, Hartley said. Also the building of the new facility fortunately comes at a time when city-wide construction has slowed and occupation of new housing is not up to capacity. This the best time to start and finish the waste treatment facility, Hartley said.

Hartley said that since the plant is only one-half mile distant that adding conduits will be minimal and can be put into use very quickly.