At Philip Morris USA, our goals are to reduce both water usage and nutrients in wastewater discharge. We've set measurable goals, including the creation of a natural treatment system at our Park 500 facility. The system is believed to be the largest of its kind in Virginia.
Our Park 500 facility, located in Chesterfield County, Va., directly withdraws water from the James River at a rate of approximately 1.8 million gallons per day. We treat the water used in this process in an on-site treatment plant before discharging it to the James River. The treated water contains substances such as nitrogen and phosphorus that are present in tobacco. Our current discharge of nutrients to the river is within the permit issued by the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Since 2001, PM USA has succeeded in reducing total nitrogen loadings to the James River by instituting operational changes to the Park 500 facility's wastewater treatment plant. We voluntarily reduced total nitrogen loadings to the river by 46 percent between 2001 and 2006.
In 2008, PM USA completed an innovative project known as the Park 500 Natural Treatment System - a 48-acre engineered wetlands project aimed at further reducing nutrient levels in wastewater discharged into the James River from Park 500.
The natural treatment system includes a series of small, shallow ponds interspersed with shrubs and trees. A majority of the area is covered with grasses and plants with the water level slightly above the ground. After one year of operations, the natural treatment system results show reductions of more than 40 percent in total nitrogen output and more than 80 percent in phosphorous output, surpassing our expectation based on system design.
It is important to note that the natural treatment system may not sustain these nutrient levels over time. The grasses and plants growing in the natural treatment system ponds experience the highest level of growth during the first year of operations, while also yielding the highest percentage decreases in nutrient discharge.
