Division of Water Approves Updated Palmer Project Waste Management Permit and Monitoring Plan

For immediate release: June 6, 2023
Contact: Gene McCabe, Division of Water, 907-269-7580

Anchorage, AK — The Division of Water (Division) reviewed and approved revisions to the Palmer Project's monitoring plan on June 2, 2023, and adopted that by reference into Waste Management Permit 2019DB001. The monitoring plan specifies how the Palmer project will sample, monitor, and document compliance with the terms of the permit. Previously, on October 4, 2022, the Division issued a plan approval for a new and improved Land Application Disposal (LAD) system design which called for updates to the monitoring plan and necessitated administrative corrections to the permit. The approved updated monitoring plan includes changes to the permit's monitoring locations as a result of the adjustment of the LAD location. These minor permit amendments now align the updated monitoring plans with the updated LAD plans.

The Palmer Project Waste Management Permit is currently under appeal in the DEC Commissioner's Office. However, the permit remains in effect, and this action by the Division does not affect that appeal or the appeal process. Neither the October 4, 2022, or the June 2, 2023, minor revisions increase the level of pollutants in the discharge, and as such, there is no regulatory requirement for public notice or comment opportunity on the minor revisions to the permit or the monitoring plan.

Although the Division is not required to publicly notice minor revisions like this, the Division provides this notice in an effort to maintain transparency and provide accessible updates about the Division’s actions due to the high level of public interest in this project.

The Palmer Project is located about 35 miles from Haines and 17 miles from the village of Klukwan. In 2019, the Division issued the waste management permit for underground discharge of water collected inside a tunnel the project intends to construct. The permit completed a 45-day public notice and comment period which generated 218 public comments.

Additional information on the Palmer Project, including the revised monitoring plan and permit: Wastewater Discharge Authorization and APDES Program