Centerville weighs $55 million wastewater upgrade after MDE approves plant PER; county, farm and funding questions remain

Centerville officials and consultants spent a work session discussing next steps for the town's wastewater treatment plant after the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) approved the project's preliminary engineering report (PER) for an E (enhanced) and R (removal) upgrade, meeting participants said.

The discussion recapped the project's history (planning began in 2017), explained why earlier options stalled, and focused on three linked questions: how much the different discharge options will cost, what funding can cover, and what the county's land-ownership rules mean for a plan that would irrigate farm fields with treated effluent.

Why it matters: the town is near the point when it must decide how much new wastewater capacity to build and how to pay for it. The outcome affects permit renewals, near-term construction, and how much development the town can approve without further investment in sewer capacity.

Key facts and status

- MDE approved Centerville's PER for the plant E&R upgrade on the day of the meeting. Meeting participants emphasized that the approval covers the wastewater plant design only, not any discharge plan for an outfall or spray-irrigation fields.

- Estimated project costs discussed at the meeting included a $55 million figure tied to an outfall-based scenario, and a $2 million line item for an expanded storage lagoon. Participants said the stream outfall and related work exceed $10 million; directional-drilled pipe under the river and contingencies were cited as drivers of that cost.

- The Bay Restoration Fund (state program) will only fund the E&R upgrade portion of the plant; participants said the state program does not…