Work to retire the Pleasant Prairie wastewater treatment plant, known as 73-1, is progressing according to schedule. In accordance with a historic water agreement, the 73-1 treatment plant must be retired by the last day of 2010. The return flow agreement helped secure a supply of safe and radium free drinking water to the western half of the Village. At the same time, it assured other Great Lakes States that Pleasant Prairie would begin returning water, drawn from Lake Michigan, to the Great Lakes Basin by the end of 2010 in order to protect the resource.

Design is presently under way for two new lift stations to pump wastewater to the City of Kenosha wastewater treatment facility. The City of Kenosha facility discharges treated water back into the Great Lakes Basin. One of the new lift stations will be built at the current site of the 73-1 treatment plant. The second lift station will be located southwest of Springbrook Road, west of Highway 31, near a Village composting facility. Throughout 2008, crews worked to install a force main, from the future sites of the lift stations along a portion of Green Bay Road and east on Highway 165, to accommodate rerouting the flow.

"The force main and engineering work that has been taking place throughout 2008 and more recently, are another step towards fulfilling our commitment," commented Mike Pollocoff, Pleasant Prairie Village Administrator. "We're on target for meeting our obligation. By the last day of 2010, all wastewater from the Village will be treated at the Kenosha Water Utility's Wastewater Treatment Plant before it is discharged to Lake Michigan." This work will help ensure the continued availability of safe drinking water for the western half of Pleasant Prairie. More information about the agreement is available under News/2008 in the 2/6/2008 article titled "Historical Water Agreement Impacts 2008 Budget."