The Delaware Supreme Court has a rejected an appeal by a group protesting an environmental permit for a Sussex County spray irrigation waste treatment project for a chicken processing plant.
The group, known as Keep Our Wells Clean, sought to have the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control require a new permit for a unit of Artesian Resources to operate the site that processes sewage from the Allen Harim plant. Artesian is based near Newark and operates water utilities and wastewater plants.
Artesian viewed the change as an amendment to its existing 2013 wastewater treatment facility construction permit.
Plaintiffs claimed the permit should have complied with the new requirements in 2014 regulations. The Environmental Appeals Board and the Superior Court decided Artesian did not have to comply with the new requirements and the high court agreed.
The wastewater site was built by Artesian to serve a subdivision near Milton that did not materialize. The company then reached an agreement with Allen Harim to treat waste coming from a nearby plant.
See decision below
https://storage.googleapis.com/delawarebusinessnow-cdn/2021/01/138-2020-opinion.pdf
