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City of Baton Rouge and East Baton Rough Parish, Louisiana, Sewer Overflow Settlement
Baton Rouge, East Baton Rouge Parish to Make Major Improvements to Sewer System under Clean Water Agreement with U.S. and Louisiana; Settlement Intended to Eliminate Decades of Sewage Overflows
On Tuesday, November 13, 2001, the United States and the State of Louisiana announced a civil settlement with the City of Baton Rouge and East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana. The settlement will end years of sewage overflows and long-standing violations of the Clean Water Act. The jurisdictions have to make extensive improvements to their co-owned and operated municipal sewage treatment and collection system. This will reduce discharges of untreated sewage to public areas and the waters of the United States by more than 1.2 billion gallons annually.
Under the agreement lodged, the City of Baton Rouge and East Baton Rouge Parish have committed to select and implement a comprehensive improvement plan which will take between 13 and 15 years to carry out and is expected to cost between $330 and $461 million. The city and parish will pay a $729,500 penalty and spend up to $1.12 million for environmental projects that will benefit local citizens served by smaller neighborhood sewer systems.
Comments on this Consent Decree will be received for 30 days.
- Press
Release
- Complaint (PDF) (178K, 20 pp)
- Consent Decree (PDF) (440K, 69 pp)
Enforcement Programs
Enforcement Priorities
- EPA's
Clean Water Act National Enforcement Priorities
- Compliance and
Enforcement Strategy Addressing Combined Sewer Overflows and Sanitary
Sewer Overflows (PDF) (72K, 17 pp)
- Setting Priorities
for Addressing Discharges from Separate Sanitary Sewers, March 7, 1996 (PDF) (20K, 9 pp)
- "Enforcement Alert" Newsletter: "
EPA Strategically Addressing Raw Sewage Discharges Across Nation to Protect Public,
Environment (PDF)" Volume 6, Number 1 (March 2003) (EPA 300-N-03-001) (101K, 4 pp)
- "Enforcement Alert" Newsletter: "EPA
Addresses Pollutants in Storm Water Through Systematic Enforcement
Strategy (PDF)"
Volume 5, Number 3 (April 2002) (159K, 6 pp)
General Program Information
For additional information, contact:
Elyse DiBiagio-Wood
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2243A)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460-0001
(202) 564-8187
dibiagio-wood.elyse@epa.gov
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