WMDT went inside of Salisbury's new 82-million dollar Wastewater Treatment Plant for an exclusive tour of the facility.

It cost millions of dollars to build--

"...the most expensive project the city's ever done," said David Winslow, the Superintendent of the plant.

Winslow says it took more than a decade to plan and now boasts it is one of very few in the world. Salisbury's new Wastewater Treatment Plant has the latest and greatest in bells and whistles. The Public Works Department says the upgrades will not only serve the community,but also the environment. They're using new types of waste removal treatments, which prevents nitrogen from entering the water.

"It became evident that nitrogen was a problem for the bay. So the major plants in the state are being required to install treatment for that," said Winslow.

Salisbury Public Works says this tank clarifier produces water 3 times cleaner than the city of Salisbury has seen in the last 50 years. Public Works Department says they're looking towards Salisbury's future.

"It provides additional capacity that's needed for growth of the city," said Winslow.

Salisbury Public Works say they still have some cosmetic work to finish up for the plant. They say the plant's construction should be finished in September.

Within the next 6 months -- they'll be fine tuning the computer system. And while the Plant is making those upgrades sewage spills have occurred. There have been 4 this year alone. And every time there's a spill -- the Wicomico River closes.

But Salisbury Public works says don't blame them for the closings. They say they always test the water after a spill and they claim it meets E-P-A standards. They say other external factors are causing the river closings.

"The quality of water in that river is being more impacted by other things than by the performance of this plant or even some of the failures of this plant," said James Caldwell of Salisbury Public Works.

Salisbury Public Works claims the river closings are caused by urban runoff, septic tank failures and agricultural runoff.