Beech Creek Boro STP - Secondary Treatment Plant in Beech Creek, Pennsylvania

Beech Creek Boro STP is a municipal wastewater treatment plant located in Beech Creek, Clinton County, Pennsylvania. The facility serves a small population of approximately 1,010 residents, providing essential sanitation services to this rural community in the Appalachian region. The plant employs secondary treatment, which is the standard level required by the US Clean Water Act for municipal facilities. With a designed capacity of 454.25 thousand gallons per day and an average discharge volume of 264.98 thousand gallons per day, the plant operates well within its capacity. As a US facility, it operates under an NPDES permit issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, ensuring compliance with federal water quality standards. The treated effluent is discharged into a local receiving water body that ultimately drains into the Susquehanna River watershed. This river system flows into the Chesapeake Bay, one of the largest estuaries in the United States. The plant's operations contribute to protecting downstream water quality and the ecological health of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem.

The plant discharges into a tributary of the Susquehanna River, which flows south through Pennsylvania and into the Chesapeake Bay. The Chesapeake Bay is a critical estuarine ecosystem supporting diverse aquatic life, including blue crabs, oysters, and migratory fish. Nutrient removal from wastewater is important to reduce algal blooms and hypoxia in the bay. The plant's secondary treatment helps control organic pollutants, but advanced nutrient removal may be needed to fully protect sensitive downstream waters.