SCH Number 2015062073

Project Info

Title

Biosolids Digester Facilities Project

Description

The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) proposes to construct new solids treatment, odor control, energy recovery, and associated facilities as part of improvements to the wastewater treatment facilities at the existing Southeast Water Pollution Control Plant (SEP) in San Francisco. The proposed project, the Biosolids Digester Facilities Project (BDFP or project), would replace the outdated existing solids treatment facilities with more reliable, efficient, and modern technologies and facilities. Biosolids are the recyclable solid materials removed from the wastewater during the treatment process, and digesters are the major facility used in the solids treatment process. Many of the existing SEP solids treatment facilities are over 60 years old, require significant maintenance, and are operating well beyond their useful life. The project would replace the existing digesters with new digesters and other new facilities that would produce higher-quality biosolids, capture and treat odors more effectively, and maximize digester gas utilization and energy recovery for the production of heat, steam, and electrical power. In addition, the project intends to locate the digesters farther away from existing residences, limit project-generated odors to the SEP fence line, and make visual improvements in and around the SEP. Nine structures totaling about 136,000 square feet of building area, all of which are less than 65 feet tall, would be demolished at the project site and construction staging areas. The structures to be demolished were built between 1952 and 2009. The project would construct 22 above- and below-ground facilities on about 206,000 square feet of the project site. The tallest new buildings would be 65 feet tall; the tallest new structure, an exhaust stack, would be 75 feet tall. The SFPUC anticipates that project construction would require five years to complete, from 2018 through 2023, followed by performance testing and full facility commissioning, anticipated to be completed in 2025. The project site is located in the southeast part of San Francisco, bordered by a freight rail spur and the Caltrain right-of-way on the west, Rankin Street on the northwest, and the existing SEP on the northeast, east, and southeast. The project facilities would be situated on portions of the SEP located at 750 Phelps Street and 1700 Jerrold Avenue, and two adjacent properties at 1800 Jerrold Avenue and 1801 Jerrold Avenue. The project site encompasses approximately 562,600 square feet (13 acres). The project would require temporary use of other off-site locations for construction staging and construction employee parking. The BDFP would require up to 12 acres for construction staging at one or more sites in addition to the project site itself; sites under consideration include the Southeast Greenhouses site at 1150 Phelps Street, 1550 Evans Avenue, and portions of Piers 94, 96, and the Pier 94 Backlands. Staging would also occur on a temporarily closed segment of Jerrold Avenue and permanently closed segment of Quint Street. The Draft EIR can be viewed online at http://sf-planning.org/sfpuc-negative-declarations-eirs. CDs and hard copies of the Draft EIR are available for public review and comment at: (1) San Francisco Planning Department, Planning Information Counter at 1660 Mission Street, 1st Floor, San Francisco; (2) San Francisco Main Library at Civic Center, 100 Larkin Street, San Francisco; and (3) Bayview Public Library, 5075 3rd Street, San Francisco. In addition, referenced materials are available for review at the San Francisco Planning Department offices at 49 South Van Ness Ave, #1400, San Francisco, CA 9i4103.

6 documents in project