The Fraser Board of Trustees passed a resolution at the regular March 19 meeting authorizing the town manager to enforce wastewater treatment regulations for breweries and distilleries within town limits.

Three breweries and one distillery in Fraser will now have to abide by waste management practices that capture production wastes in barrels and totes instead of letting this waste go down the drain. If these businesses are found violating these regulations, they could be subject to fines, disconnection from the sewer systems and more.

When breweries and distilleries manufacture products such as beer or various spirits, there is bi-product waste that is generated. This includes all liquid and solid waste from grains, mash, or other brewing or distilling materials.

Fraser town manager Michael Brack explained that historically, the waste created by breweries and distilleries has simply been put down the sewer before making its way to the Upper Fraser Valley Wastewater Treatment Plant where it is then treated before being released back into the Fraser River.

Brack said that the waste streams that were sampled and tested at breweries and distilleries found elevated amounts of biochemical oxygen demand and nitrogen, which are difficult for the wastewater treatment plant to treat. Higher biochemical oxygen demand has a direct impact on rivers by leading to reduced levels of oxygen for fish and other aquatic life.

Between 2020 and 2023, Tetra Tech, Fraser’s engineering consultant firm who works for the wastewater treatment plant, performed composite sampling at multiple commercial user locations. Following months of waste stream sampling, Tetra Tech pointed to breweries and distilleries as the cause for these elevated pollutant levels due to increased loading at the wastewater plant being consistent with the strength and composition of brewery and distillery wastes. One compliance inspection report also found elevated levels of ammonia that were believed to be the result of discharges from one or more breweries.

At the board meeting, Brack explained that over the past year, the wastewater treatment plant has incurred permit violations from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment due to the increased biochemical oxygen demand, temperature and pH values outside the range for treatment.

Since June 2023, the town has been working to remedy violations at the wastewater treatment plant. The failure to remedy these violations would subject multiple agencies to future legal action from the state. According to Brack, Fraser town code already prohibits the discharge of these types of waste into the sewer collection system, but it hasn’t been enforced until recently.

For months now, the town has been working with Vicious Cycle Brewery, Fraser River Beer Co., Camber Brewing Co. and Fraser Valley Distilling to have them capture waste into containers that are then collected by a contracted pump truck that takes the waste to the Front Range for proper disposal. Currently, the town and other entities are taking on the cost of disposal, according to Brack. Each pump truck trip costs around $2,000 in addition to a per-gallon-collected fee. The frequency of the trips is dependent on the amount of waste created by the breweries and distilleries, but Brack said that the town is working on a schedule to have the truck come up one to two times a month on a regular basis.

In addition to processing waste into a separate side stream that flows into disposable containers, the breweries are also required to report the number of barrels produced every month and gallons discarded as a bad batch every month through an email sent to the town manager and wastewater treatment plant superintendent. The town is collecting data from this pilot program to quantify the number of gallons of waste produced in order to determine how to address the issue in a cost-effective and practical way.

Brack explained that once the town has two to three months of data from the pilot program, it will begin to look at long term solutions. Some of the solutions include installing new equipment at the wastewater plant to treat this waste, continuing to have the pump truck collect the waste captured in these totes, or requiring the breweries to treat their waste on-site before discharging down the sewer line.

At the meeting, Brack said the town reached 100% side stream capture implementation on Feb. 1.