WASHINGTON SUBURBAN SANITARY COMMISSION

Chair: Robert G. Berger, Montgomery County, 1997

Vice-Chair: Elizabeth Buck, Prince George's County, 1997

Appointed by Montgomery County Executive with County Council consent: Kevin P. Maloney, 1995; W. Gregory Wims, 1995.

Appointed by Prince George's County Executive with County Council consent: Henry T. Arrington, 1995; Robert M. Potter, 1995.

Cortez A. White, General Manager

Richard G. Hocevar Building
14501 Sweitzer Lane
Laurel, MD 20707
(301) 206-8000
(301) 206-4001 (customer service)
(301) 206-4002 (emergency service, 24-hours)
toll free: 1-800-828-6439
World Wide Web: http://wssc.suitlandwatertank.com/wssc1.htm

Created in 1918, the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission governs the Washington Suburban Sanitary District (Chapter 122, Acts of 1918). The Commission provides water and treats sewerage in Prince George's and Montgomery counties, Maryland. It is responsible for the construction, maintenance, and operation of water supply and sewerage systems in the two counties. The Commission also regulates and inspects plumbing and gas-fitting installations, and sets customer rates for its suburban Maryland service area.

Two major water sources supply the Commission system: the Patuxent River through the Patuxent Filtration Plant, and the Potomac River through the Potomac River Filtration Plant. The Commission also stores about 12 billion gallons of raw water at Rocky Gorge Reservoir in Prince George's and Montgomery counties, and at Triadelphia Lake in Montgomery County. Little Seneca Lake in Montgomery County and the Jennings-Randolph Reservoir in West Virginia provide storage for an additional 17 billion gallons of water.

Much of the sewage from the Commission service area is carried by trunk sewers into the District of Columbia and treated at the regional Blue Plains Pollution Control Plant in Washington, DC. Other sewage disposal plants operated by the Commission are in northern Montgomery County at Seneca Creek; and in Prince George's County at Piscataway Bay (Accokeek), Upper Marlboro (Western Branch), and near Laurel (Parkway Waste Water Treatment Plant). The Commission also runs several smaller waste water plants and, in eastern Montgomery County, a 116-acre composting facility that processes the Commission's proportionate share of Blue Plains sludge.

The Commission has six members: three from Montgomery County; three from Prince George's County. Each county's members are named to four-year terms by the County Executive with County Council consent. The Commission's annual budget is subject to joint approval by the governing bodies of the two counties (Code 1957, Art. 29).

ENVIRONMENTAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Organized in July 1993, the Environmental Advisory Committee advises the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission on local community and environmental issues associated with proposed projects. The Committee consists of twenty-four members (twelve from Montgomery County and twelve from Prince George's County) appointed by the Commission.

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