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Washington D.C. Water and Sewer Authority (DC WASA) Sewer Overflows Settlement
On Wednesday, June 25, 2003, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Environmental Protection Agency, the United States and a coalition of citizen groups have reached a partial settlement of Clean Water Act litigation against the Washington DC Water and Sewer Authority (WASA), launching an extensive program to reduce illegal discharges of untreated sewage into the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers and Rock Creek.
WASA has agreed to take several interim measures to reduce illegal sewage overflows and other violations of the Clean Water Act. The settlement also requires WASA to pay a $250,000 penalty for past violations, and undertake or fund $2 million in storm water pollution prevention. Of the $2 million, $1.7 million will be applied towards "low impact development" projects at locations through the district. These projects will reduce storm water pollution through site designs (e.g., rain gardens, vegetative buffers, rain barrels and cisterns, increased tree cover) that store infiltrate, evaporate and detain storm water. The remaining $300K will be place into a fund to be used for the development of roof gardens.
The interim measures to be taken by WASA include steps to limit Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs) by improving operating and maintenance, rehabilitating pumping stations, increasing sewage storage and flow capacity, working to prevent dry weather overflows, and upgrading pretreatment requirements for industrial discharges. The work required for this partial settlement is estimated to cost $150 million.
The United States press release, dated June 25, 2003, quotes Donald S. Welsh, Administrator for EPA's mid-Atlantic region as stating "Today's settlement represents an important step toward the goal of eliminating sewage overflows into the waterways of our nation's capital. Overflows from sewer systems contaminate rivers and streams with bacteria, pathogens and other harmful pollutants, which can seriously degrade water quality, kill aquatic life and threaten public health."
The proposed consent decree is subject to a 30-day comment period and final court approval. This will resolve a portion of the lawsuits filed by a coalition of citizen groups in January 2000, and by the US States in 2002.
- Press
Release (Region 3) (03/25/03)
- Consent Decree (PDF) (1.22MB, 82 pp)
Enforcement Programs
Enforcement Priorities
- Compliance and
Enforcement Strategy Addressing Combined Sewer Overflows and Sanitary
Sewer Overflows (PDF) (120.8K, 17 pp)
- Setting Priorities
for Addressing Discharges from Separate Sanitary Sewers, March 7, 1996 (PDF) (39.4K, 9 pp)
- EPA Region 4's Maintenance, Operation and Management Compliance (MOM) Pilot Program for Permitted Wastewater Facilities (PDF) (01/23/03)(439.2K, 5 pp)
General Information
For additional information, contact:
EPA Region 3
Yvette Roundtree
US Environmental Protection Agency-Region III
1650 Arch Street (3RC20)
Philadelphia, PA 19103-2029
(215) 814-2635
roundtree.yvette@epa.gov
EPA Headquarters
Sushilla Nanda
US Environmental Protection Agency (2243A)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460-0001
(202) 564-4088
nanda.sushilla@epa.gov