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Environment

District of Columbia Department of the Environment

03/13/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 03/13/2026 09:34

Notice Requesting Public Comment on Draft Facility-Wide Title V and Chapter 2 Air Quality Operating Permit for DC Water

PUBLIC NOTICE

Notice Requesting Public Comment on Draft Facility-Wide Title V and Chapter 2 Air Quality Operating Permit for
District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (DC Water), Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant

Notice is hereby given that the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority has applied for a Title V air quality permit renewal to operate the emission units listed below, pursuant to the requirements of Title 20 of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations, Chapters 2 and 3 (20 DCMR Chapters 2 and 3) and that the Air Quality Division (AQD) of the Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE) is proposing to issue Permit No. 038 in response to this application. The facility is located at 5000 Overlook Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20032.

The contact person for the facility is Meena Gowda, Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, at (202) 787-2628 or [email protected].

Emission Units
Emission Unit ID	Location/Stack ID	Emission Unit Name	Chapter 2 Permit No. †	Description
C7-2 & C8-2	Central Maintenance Facility- C7-2 & C8-2	CMF boilers	6422-A1 and 6423-A1	Two (2) 5.979 MMBTU/hr natural gas-fired Cleaver Brooks boilers: Model CBLE 150-15ST
AB	Combined Heat and Power Plant - AB	Auxiliary Boiler	6372-C2/O	One (1) auxiliary boiler rated at 62.52 MMBTU/hr firing digester gas and 61.79 MMBTU/hr firing natural gas
CT-1, CT-2, CT-3	Combined Heat and Power Plant - CT-1, CT-2, CT-3	Combustion Gas Turbines	6372-C2/O	Three (3) Solar Mercury 50 Combustion Gas Turbines rated at 46.3 MMBTU/hr each firing digester gas or a combination of digester gas and natural gas
DB1, DB2, DB3	Combined Heat and Power Plant -DB1, DB2, DB3	Duct Burners	6372-C2/O	Three (3) Heat Recovery Steam Generators (HRSGs) with supplemental firing by Duct Burners rated at 21 MMBTU/hr each, firing digester gas
SF	Combined Heat and Power Plant -SF	Siloxane Flare	6372-C2/O	One (1) Siloxane flare rated at 6.14 MMBTU/hr firing digester gas
EF-1 & EF-2	Main Process Train -EF-1 & EF-2	Emergency Flares	6372-C2/O	Two (2) Emergency flares rated at 126 MMBTU/hr each firing digester gas
MPTOS	Main Process Train - MPTOS	Biological Odor Scrubber	6372-C2/O	One (1) 58,000 cfm odor scrubber
FDFOS	Final Dewatering Facility - FDFOS	Dual Stage Chemical Scrubber	6372-C2/O	One (1) 54,000 cfm chemical odor scrubber
PT1, PT2, PT3, PT4, PT5, PT6	PT1-BH, PT2-BH, PT3-BH, PT4-BH, PT5-BH, PT6-BH	Polymer Storage Silos equipped with Baghouses	None	Six (6) polymer storage silos with baghouses estimated to have been installed between 2002 and 2003.
DCST-1, DCST-2, DCST-3, DCST-4	Enhanced Nitrogen Removal Facility - DCMVS-1 & DCMVS-2	Denitrification Carbon Storage Tanks	6347-R2	Four (4) 60,000 gallon above-ground denitrification carbon storage tanks
DCMVS-1 & DCMVS-2	Enhanced Nitrogen Removal Facility - DCMVS-1 & DCMVS-2	Denitrification Carbon Methanol Vapor Scrubbers	6347-R2	Two (2) Duall packed tower carbon methanol vapor scrubbers
GSLS-1 & GSLS-2	Grit and Screenings Loading Station - GSLS-1 & GSLS-2	One-stage Chemical Odor Scrubber	7067-A1 and 7068-A1	One (1) 45,000 cfm, chemical odor scrubber and one (1) 71,400 cfm chemical odor scrubber
DSLF	Dewatered Sludge Loading Facility - DSLF	Two-staged packed-bed wet odor scrubbers	6472-C2	One (1) 54,000 cfm Indusco odor scrubber
TDPS-EG	South of TDPS- TDPS-EG	Tunnel Dewatering Pumping Station Diesel-fired Emergency Generator	7048-SC-0235-R1 (previously 7126)	One (1) 250 kWe MTU emergency generator powered by a 418 hp (312 kWm) MTU diesel-fired engine.
ECF-OS1, ECF-OS2, & ECF-OS3	North of the Grit Removal Facility - ECF-OS1, ECF-OS2, & ECF-OS3	Carbon Adsorbers	7127, 7128, and 7130, respectively.	Three (3) identical DARCO H2S radial carbon adsorber odor scrubbers, each rated at 28,700 cfm
TDPS-OS4	South of TDPS-TDPS-OS4	Carbon Adsorber	7129	One (1) DARCO H2S vertical carbon adsorber odor scrubber, rated at 3,500 cfm

† These permits are being incorporated into the Title V permit at the time of issuance of permit No. 038 and will cease to exist as separate permits (except for historical purposes) with that incorporation.

In addition to the significant units listed above, DC Water identified in their application the following insignificant units:

Small natural gas-fired hot water heaters with heat input ratings less than 5 MMBTU/hr;
Natural gas-fired kitchen equipment including dining facilities;
Natural gas-fired space heaters/furnaces and packaged HVAC units;
Small boilers with heat input less than 5 MMBTU/hr;
Nine degreasers;
Filtrate treatment facility with two feed tanks and six batch reactors;
Ten gravity thickners;
Twelve centrifuges
Inorganic storage tanks;
30,000 gallon alternate carbon tank for the storage of pure glycerol, tank ACST-1;
One 1,575 gallon storage tank for ULSD; and
Two 500 gallon portable diesel tanks; and
One 500 gallon used oil tank.

EMISSIONS SUMMARY:

The following is an estimate of overall potential emissions from the facility:

FACILITY-WIDE EMISSIONS SUMMARY
Criteria Pollutants	Potential Emissions (tons per year)
Oxides of Sulfur (SOx)	26.56
Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx)	132.92
Total Particulate Matter, including condensables (PM Total)	23.13
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC)	33.01
Carbon Monoxide (CO)	143.25
Total Hazardous Air Pollutants (Total HAP)	22.23
Methanol (the individual HAP with the highest potential to emit)	8.27

Blue Plains Wastewater Treatment Plant has the potential to emit 132.92 tons per year (TPY) of NOx, 33.01 TPY of VOC, and 143.25 TPY of CO. The value for these criteria pollutants exceed the major source thresholds in the District of Columbia of 25 TPY of NOx or VOC, and/or 100 TPY of any other criteria pollutant. Because potential emissions of NOx, VOC, and CO exceed the relevant major source thresholds, pursuant to 20 DCMR 300.1(a), the source is subject to Chapter 3 and must obtain an operating permit in accordance with that regulation and Title V of the federal Clean Air Act.

The Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE) has reviewed the permit application and related documents and has made a preliminary determination that the applicant meets all applicable air quality requirements promulgated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the District. Therefore, draft permit No. 038 has been prepared.

The application, the draft permit, and all other materials submitted by the applicant [except those entitled to confidential treatment under 20 DCMR 301.1(c)] considered in making this preliminary determination are available for public review during normal business hours at the offices of the Department of Energy and Environment, 1200 First Street NE, 5thFloor, Washington DC 20002. Copies of the draft permit and related fact sheet are available in the attachments section below.

A public hearing on this permitting action will not be held unless DOEE has received a request for such a hearing within 30 days of the publication of this notice. Interested parties may also submit written comments on the permitting action.

Comments on the draft permit and any request for a public hearing should be addressed to:

Stephen S. Ours Chief
Permitting Branch - Air Quality Division

Department of Energy and Environment
1200 First Street NE, 5th Floor
Washington, DC 20002

[email protected]

No comments or hearing requests submitted after May 4, 2026 will be accepted.

For more information, please contact John Nwoke at (202) 724-7778 or [email protected].

District of Columbia Department of the Environment published this content on March 13, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on March 13, 2026 at 15:34 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]