Second wastewater plant permit for Platon Investments LLC pending approval

A second wastewater treatment plant proposed by Platon Investments LLC in Wilbarger County would be designed to serve a new industrial site with approximately 440 full-time employees, according to a newly released 204-page application filed with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

The proposed plant would have an average design capacity of 20,000 gallons of domestic wastewater per day, providing another piece of infrastructure for the rapidly developing industrial and data-center corridor southeast of Vernon.

TCEQ declared the application for permit WQ0017021001 administratively complete Aug. 21. The agency lists the facility as “Planton Investments WWTP 2,” although the applicant is identified as Platon Investments LLC.

The filing is significant because it establishes that the new permit is for a second, separate wastewater treatment facility rather than another permitting option for Platon’s previously proposed 130,000-gallon-per-day plant near Oklaunion.

The wastewater application, however, does not identify Google, Project Rise or a data center as the industrial development that WWTP 2 would serve. It describes the customer only as a new industrial site. The 440-worker figure therefore should not be interpreted as a confirmed permanent employment number for Google’s Wilbarger County data-center project.

According to engineering information included in the TCEQ application, the wastewater system was sized using an estimated 440 full-time employees onsite throughout a 24-hour day.

The calculations include domestic wastewater generated by uses such as restrooms, kitchens, showers and laundry facilities associated with the industrial operation.

The plant would be designed for an average flow of 20,000 gallons per day and a two-hour peak flow of approximately 80,000 gallons per day.

The proposed WWTP 2 site is approximately 5,300 feet southeast of the intersection of FM 3430 and County Road 132 East, about seven miles southeast of Vernon. Coordinates provided in the application place the facility at approximately 34.090198 degrees north latitude and 99.188586 degrees west longitude.

Treated wastewater would be discharged through a proposed permanent channel before entering Boggy Creek. From there, the receiving-water route continues into Beaver Creek and eventually the Wichita River below Diversion Lake Dam.

Platon identifies itself as the owner of the property where the wastewater plant would be constructed.

Landowners identified around the proposed facility include the Sherry Ann Judd Lancaster Trust, Roy Alan Stolle Life Estate, Nathan John Hohle, Jan Dockery King Trust, Lon E. Byars, Oklaunion Power Station LLC and the W.T. Waggoner Estate.

Platon’s first proposed wastewater facility is covered by TCEQ permits WQ0016937001 and WQ0016938001. Those applications describe a plant capable of treating as much as 130,000 gallons per day for another new industrial site.

The first plant’s engineering documents estimate that industrial site could have approximately 2,215 employees onsite throughout a 24-hour period.
The two permit numbers for the first facility represent alternative disposal methods rather than two separate 130,000-gallon plants. One application seeks authorization to discharge treated wastewater, while the other proposes disposal through evaporation.

WWTP 2 is different. Its separate location, smaller 20,000-gallon-per-day capacity and 440-employee design population establish it as an additional wastewater facility.

If both Platon facilities ultimately are permitted and constructed at their proposed capacities, the company would have wastewater infrastructure designed to handle a combined average flow of as much as 150,000 gallons per day across the two locations.

The second plant also adds to the growing amount of publicly documented infrastructure accompanying development southeast of Vernon and around Oklaunion.

TDLR records show Rise 2A at FM 2897 South as a $500 million new data-center project with 991,000 square feet. The registration describes construction of a data center with associated mechanical and electrical yards, fire lanes, a security entrance and utilities.

A separate registration for Project Rise 1A describes another 991,000-square-foot, $500 million data center at the same FM 2897 South address. Together, the two registrations carry an estimated construction value of $1 billion.

Platon Investments is listed as the owner of Rise 2A. A similarly named entity, Planton Investments LLC, is listed as owner of Rise 1A. Both registrations use Google’s Mountain View headquarters address.

The TCEQ application does not establish whether WWTP 2 will exclusively serve Rise 2A, another portion of Google’s Wilbarger County development or a separate Platon-controlled industrial project. Its location and the applicant’s other Wilbarger County activities nevertheless make the filing another significant indicator of infrastructure being developed around the county’s emerging data-center and industrial complex.

The 440-worker figure is also notable because it is a design assumption used to size the wastewater system, rather than an employment commitment made to Wilbarger County or another governmental entity.

It indicates the anticipated level of human occupancy the engineers expect the wastewater facility to accommodate but does not establish how many permanent jobs eventually will be created.

TCEQ’s determination that the application is administratively complete also does not mean the wastewater permit has been approved.

Administrative completeness means the agency has determined the application contains the information necessary to proceed through the permitting process. As of Aug. 24, TCEQ had not listed WQ0017021001 as technically complete.

The technical review will determine whether the proposed treatment system, discharge limits and receiving-water protections meet state requirements before TCEQ can move toward a final permit decision.