A clear vision and cost conscious planning are coming together to bring a plant back to life.

We're partnered with Iowa Premium Beef to reinvigorate a meat packing plant that closed its doors 10 years ago, and design an accompanying wastewater treatment plant to meet current and future discharge requirements.

A tight schedule led Iowa Premium Beef to select HDR, teamed with Gridor Construction, to provide design-build delivery for the wastewater treatment plant. But when funding challenges came into play and the project was delayed, we shifted our focus to work directly with Iowa Premium Beef for permitting and stormwater pollution prevention planning so they'd be ready to go when additional funding was in place.

Once funding was secured, Iowa Premium Beef gave our HDR | Gridor team the green light to move forward. In less than 11 months, Iowa Premium Beef's wastewater treatment plant evolved from an idea to an operational facility. Thinking ahead, we designed a custom treatment plant to achieve nitrogen and phosphorus limits beyond the average scope so future discharge limits can be achieved with minimal process changes. To keep costs in check, the wastewater treatment plant is designed to capture biogas produced in anaerobic lagoons and reuse it for energy in the meat packing plant at some point in the future.

With start-up on the horizon, Iowa Premium Beef enlisted us to provide contract wastewater operators for the facility so they can focus on getting their business up and running. After a year-long transition period, we'll transition the operators to become full-time Iowa Premium Beef employees.

Bringing Iowa Premium Beef's plant to life is making a big impact on a small community. It'll support local family farms by providing a place to process their Black Angus cattle, and create 600 new jobs.