CORRECTION March 13, 2026, 10:39 a.m.: Changes Skidaway Institute of Marine Sciences to Skidaway Institute of Oceanography
The Liberty County Development Authority wants to build a $32.5 million high-tech wastewater treatment plant to meet projected growth in the eastern part of the county.
“The bigger picture includes a higher standard of living and expanding the tax base, and this certainly does that,” said LCDA Chief Executive Officer Brynn Grant.
The plan is neither financed nor complete, and discussions come at a time when residents of the county and Midway are facing rising bills for water and sewage to cover operating costs of existing facilities. And some landowners, especially residents east of I-95, are worried about overdevelopment.
Still in planning stage
The county is almost out of capacity to handle sewage and industrial wastewater, which would keep it from bringing in new homes and businesses.
The proposed 3-million-gallon-per-day facility would initially serve Tradeport East and the planned Laurel View mixed-use development on I-95 at Exit 76. It would be about three-quarters the size of the Richmond Hill sewage treatment plant next to Sterling Creek Park, according to project engineer Chris Stovall of Thomas & Hutton.
That facility, visible from a paved hiking trail, was hailed in 2016 as state-of-the-art by the World Bank and the federal Environmental Protection Agency. It uses a super-fine filter membrane to strain impurities from the wastewater, as would the proposed plant, Stovall said. Treated water would be used for HVAC cooling and irrigation. Processed organic matter would be trucked to a landfill. A fraction of leftover treated freshwater would flow into Laurel Creek.
The facility could be financed various ways, including low-interest loans from the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority, according to LCDA marketing director Katie Dye. Another option, she said, is tax-exempt bonds that would be paid for by developers’ connection fees and state and federal grants.
Who benefits?
Several parties stand to benefit from increased wastewater capacity. The LCDA says a centralized plant would allow parts of Midway and unincorporated Liberty to get off loosely-regulated, flood-prone septic tanks. Developers could break ground on projects that otherwise would not happen. And the county would get more property and sales tax revenues from new property owners and customers patronizing local businesses.
The Laurel View development would need the added capacity to move forward and has been approved for up to 5,420 residential units, which Liberty Consolidated Planning Commission Executive Director Jeff Ricketson likened to “adding another city to the county.”
Project engineers say the technology for the proposed new facility would save prime Floridan aquifer drinking water and produce environmentally safe water for non-drinking purposes. Such goals are called for in the 2023 Coastal Georgia Regional Water Plan.
Construction should take about three years, Stovall said. Georgia Department of Natural Resources spokeswoman Sara Lips said no permits have been issued for the project yet. DNR did issue a document last year that gives engineers permission to plan for treating up to 3 million gallons per day. Right now, Stovall said, engineers are weighing design options, possible environmental impacts, ways to avoid or minimize those impacts, and how to size different parts of the system.
Environmental questions
Despite those plans, critics say they don’t want to put the marsh at risk.
For those lucky few county residents living on waterfront property, the prospect of increased environmental stress is upsetting — especially in the wake of the grassroots uproar against Bryan County’s proposed Westwin nickel refinery.
Grant points out that she, too, lives on the marsh, and does not want to see it damaged.
Some worry that major hurricanes or floods could force untreated wastewater into fragile tidal marsh, especially if the county moves forward with plans to build another 5,420 households near I-95. And if ratepayers have to pick up part of the tab for the new plant, that could mean higher water bills for a wider group of people.
The development authority has answered critics by publicizing a DNR slideshow summarizing a study that explains discharge risks. University of Georgia Skidaway Institute of Oceanography professor Marc Frischer said a major finding of that study shows the creek requires about 21 days to fully flush itself.
“It will be critical that LCDA is thinking about what might happen if there were to be a spill,” Frischer said.
Stovall said the plant’s planned location is out of the 500-year flood zone, “so the likelihood of flooding is minimal.” The design includes above-ground treatment tanks, backup pumps, screens, and generators to further mitigate flood risk.
One Hundred Miles and Ogeechee Riverkeeper have not taken a position on the plan. However, ORK did ask the Coastal Regional Commission last year to urge Laurel View’s developer “to go beyond the minimum required standards in constructing stormwater management facilities.”
The LCDA promises public meetings, to be announced, to answer questions on the proposed project.
