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Combined Sewer Overflows Success Stories
Mid-Atlantic Combined Sewer Overflows Quick Finder |
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| Combined Sewer Overflows Home Contacts Links Publications Success Stories | Communities in Delaware Communities in District of Columbia Communities in Maryland | Communities in Pennsylvania Communities in Virginia Communities in West Virginia | |||
- Delaware - City of Wilmington
- District of Columbia - Water and Sewer Authority
- Maryland - City of Baltimore
- Maryland - Cumberland
- Pennsylvania - ALCOSAN Service Communities Compliance Incentive Project
- Pennsylvania - Allegheny County CSO Alerts
- Pennsylvania - Lackawanna
- Pennsylvania - Lower Lackawanna Valley Sanitary Authority
- Pennsylvania - Philly Rivercast
- Virginia - Lynchburg
- West Virginia - Marmet
- West Virginia - McMechen
Delaware: City of Wilmington
In October 2000, EPA conducted a compliance evaluation of Wilmington and identified a number of compliance issues that needed to be addressed. On June 22, 2001, EPA visited Wilmington CSOs in response to a citizen complaint. DNREC and EPA believe that Wilmington should be brought into compliance through an enforceable mechanism. There are 38 CSOs in Wilmington. Each year, the outfalls discharge approximately 1.47 billion gallons of untreated wastewater during wet weather events. This wastewater contains untreated domestic, commercial and industrial wastes along with urban storm water runoff and pose a threat to receiving water quality, aquatic habitat, and human health. EPA referred this case to the state of Delaware in February 2002 for resolution. EPA met with Delaware and Wilmington on a number of occasions. Delaware issued a compliance order in February 2003 to the City of Wilmington to address NMC deficiencies. EPA, Delaware, and Wilmington entered discussions concerning LTCP approval and implementation.
District of Columbia: Washington Water and
Sewer Authority
EPA's CSO case was referred in April 2000 for violations of the Nine Minimum Controls (NMC) and water quality requirements. Earth Justice filed a complaint in February 2000. On June 25, 2003, a partial Consent Decree was lodged in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia partially resolving violations of the CWA in the case against the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (WASA) and the District of Columbia. The settlement will result in compliance with the Nine Minimum Controls set forth in the Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) policy and WASA's NPDES permit and are a necessary prelude to implementation of WASA's Long Term Control Plan (LTCP). These measures will result in annual reduction in discharges of approximately 530,000 pounds of biological oxygen demand, 1.7 million pounds of total suspended solids, 42,000 pounds of nitrogen, and 8,700 pounds of phosphorous. The estimated value of the injunctive relief is $150,000,000. The Decree also provides for a $250,000 cash penalty, $1,700,000 in Supplemental Environmental Projects consisting of low impact development (LID) projects, and $300,000 in "green" roof gardens as a Citizen's Project. The Department of Justice filed a complaint on December 20, 2002 dealing with the unresolved issues regarding the LTCP. Negotiations between the United States and WASA regarding LTCP implementation took place. The estimated cost of the LTCP required for compliance and additional relief is about $1. billion dollars and it will eliminate approximately 2.5 billion gallons per year of untreated sewage from being discharged into the areas waters.
CSO Warning Lights - WASA is in the process of siting warning lights to advise the public about the occurrence of CSOs. One warning light will be located on the Anacostia River, and another will be located on the Potomac River. It is anticipated that the lights will have two colors. One color will be displayed when CSOs are actually overflowing, while the second color would be displayed for 24 hours after an overflow stopped.
Maryland: City of Baltimore
In April 2002, the Department of Justice, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the State of Maryland announced a joint settlement with the City of Baltimore that addressed continuing hazards posed by hundreds of illegal wastewater discharges of raw sewage from Baltimore's wastewater collection system. These discharges regularly contaminated important recreational areas. This settlement was made possible by the close cooperation and coordination between Maryland Department of the Environment and EPA. Untreated discharges have long contaminated Baltimore-area waters with bacteria, pathogens and other harmful pollutants which can seriously degrade water quality, kill aquatic life and threaten public health. Under the settlement, the city agreed to 1) pay a $600,000 civil penalty, 2) undertake a comprehensive, system-wide sewer upgrade which costing approximately $940 million over the 14-year life of the agreement, and 3) design a biological nutrient reduction facility for the removal of nitrogen at the city-owned Patapsco Wastewater Treatment Plant, spending at least $2.7 million. The sewer upgrade will bring the city into long-term compliance with the Clean Water Act and should also prevent chronic discharges of millions of gallons of raw sewage into city streets and local waterways, including the Patapsco River and other tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay.
Maryland: Cumberland
The City of Cumberland is in the process of separating their combined sewer overflow system into a two-pipe system. One pipe will be for stormwater and the other pipe will be for wastewater. Part of this multi-phase, multi-year project has been funded by US EPA at $5 million.
Pennsylvania: ALCOSAN Service Communities Compliance Incentive Project
As part of an overall control strategy to address overflows from both the ALCOSAN interceptor system, as well as the sewer collection system owned or operated by the 83 CSO/SSO service communities, the EPA, the State, and Allegheny County Health proposed that the municipalities voluntarily enter into consent orders with the state and county. The orders were developed by the three regulatory agencies with input from the municipalities and require the municipalities to inventory and repair their sewer systems, as well as cooperate with ALCOSAN in the development and implementation of a LTCP to address the sewage discharge problem on a region-wide basis. Municipalities who do not enter into these consent agreements, or who sign up but do not comply with them, will be subject to traditional EPA enforcement mechanisms, including penalties for past violations. Those that enter into these agreements will be given an opportunity to address their compliance problems without penalty. In February of 2002, EPA sent the draft Consent Orders to over 700 municipal and elected officials in all 83 service communities. The municipalities identified a number of concerns that the regulatory agencies determined to be reasonable and worked with the communities to develop orders addressing these concerns. Final agreements were mailed to the 83 municipalities in mid-2003.
Pennsylvania: Lackawanna County
The Lackawanna River has a history of activities that had adversely affected its ecosystem. Such activities included combined sewer overflows (CSOs), acid mine drainage, and flood control projects. Funding was needed to evaluate and manage this altered ecosystem. To date, US EPA has funded $10 million to address Lackawanna River CSO problems. The money was used for water quality work and to work with sewer authorities to establish CSO control technologies.
Pennsylvania: Lower Lackawanna Valley Sanitary Authority
On December 10, 2001, the mid-Atlantic Region issued an administrative order to the Lower Lackawanna Valley Sanitary Authority (LLVSA). The order required LLVSA to submit to EPA a plan and schedule setting forth the specific actions LLVSA will take to comply with the prevention of dry weather overflow requirements and combined sewer overflow related monitoring requirements of its NPDES permit. The order also required LLVSA to identify critical CSO points (i.e., those most likely to discharge during rainfall events) and to identify root causes and preventative measures to prevent and /or minimize the impact of the discharges. The order required LLVSA to begin implementing the plan within forty-five (45) days of the plan and schedule submittals. PA DEP personnel participated in the inspection which lead to the discovery of the violations. LLVSA continues to comply with the AO requirements although it has missed some milestone dates.
Virginia: Lynchburg
In order for the City of Lynchburg to comply with state and federal mandates to eliminate combined sewer overflows, the City decided to convert their combined sewer system to a two-pipe system. One pipe would be for stormwater and the other pipe would be for wastewater. To date, US EPA has funded $37,344,403 for this conversion.
West Virginia: Marmet
On September 4, 2002, EPA issued an administrative order to Marmet, West Virginia to submit plans and schedules detailing how Marmet will fulfill its CSO monitoring requirements, and install CSO warning signs to provide notice of the discharge from CSOs especially near marinas. The administrative order also required implementation of the plans and schedules. Marmet is complying with its administrative order requirements.
West Virginia: McMechen
On September 30, 2002, the mid-Atlantic Region issued an administrative order to McMechen, West Virginia to submit plans and schedules detailing how McMechen plans to determine the water quality impacts from its CSOs, to conduct routine and preventative maintenance of McMechen's collection system, to develop and implement a pollution prevention program in McMechen, to implement a CSO monitoring program, and to identify and eliminate dry weather overflows. The administrative order also required implementation of the plans and schedules. McMechen is complying with its administrative order requirements.
