GREAT BARRINGTON — Paula Ely has been promoted to the position of superintendent for the town’s wastewater treatment plant operation. Ely succeeds Bill Ingram, who is retiring after 36 years of service to the town. He became superintendent in 2018.
“We thank Bill and wish him well after his many years of service managing our town’s excellent wastewater operation, and Paula is now the ideal person to take the lead going forward,” said Town Manager Mark Pruhenski.
The plant has seven employees and processes approximately 420 million gallons of wastewater each year. The department also manages 31 miles of sewer line and six pumping stations in Great Barrington.
Ely joined the department in 2004, and was most recently the chief treatment plant operator.
In 2018, she was named Operator of the Year by the Environmental Protection Agency’s New England office for producing consistently clean wastewater discharge from the Bentley Street plant. It was the second such award given by the regional EPA to the Great Barrington facility; in 2016, the plant received the regional EPA Operation and Maintenance Excellence Award.
Ely’s recognition drew media attention to the town’s wastewater operation from WGBY’s Connecting Point news program, which showed the intricate work involved in processing municipal wastewater.
As her first tip for town sewer users as superintendent, Ely reminds town residents not to flush cleansing wipes down the toilet, regardless of what the packaging says about them being “flushable.” “Wipes continue to be a challenge facing the wastewater industry,” said Ely. “We spend countless hours each year cleaning pumps plugged with wipes, so we urge everyone to dispose of these in the trash!”
