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Pretreatment Success Stories
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- Delaware - Kent County
- Pennsylvania - Conway Borough
- Pennsylvania - Pottsville
- Pennsylvania - Ridgeway
- Pennsylvania - Sharon
- Pennsylvania - Upper Gwynedd
Kent County - Levy Court, DE
The Kent County Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility
was named a member of the EPA National Environmental Performance Track program, because of its commitment to consistently exceed environmental regulation requirements. The facility qualified for the program through its past achievements, continuous commitment to environmental compliance, implementation of a strong Environmental Management System, and its communicating and working with the community.
The program has come a long way since an EPA audit in 1999. Problems existed in the implementation of the program requirements, including a failure to monitor the discharge from the facility for all of the regulated pollutants.
The facility accepts wastes from an organic chemical, plastics and synthetic fibers manufacturer; a steam electric generating facility; a metal finisher; several food related businesses; and several paper manufacturers.
In addition to its excellent implementation of its pretreatment program, Kent County is deeply involved with the control of fats, oils, and grease; and septic system discharges. The County has prepared and has distributed Best Management Practices pamphlets for both of these topics.
Conway Borough, PA
Conway Borough, PA is located in Beaver County. It is a small Publicly Owned Treatment Works. In May 2000, PADEP determined that a discharge from the major industrial user in Conway's service area, Norfolk Southern Railway, had caused serious problems in the receiving stream, the Ohio River. The State informed the Borough that it would either have to eliminate acceptance of the Railway's discharge, or develop and implement an approvable pretreatment program to better regulate this discharge. Conway decided to develop an approvable program, which was approved by EPA in January 2002. Conway is now effectively regulating the discharge from the Railway facility, as well as from another Significant Industrial User.
Greater Pottsville Area Sewer Authority, PA
The Greater Pottsville Area Sewer Authority had experienced many problems related to the implementation of its pretreatment program, due primarily to D. G. Yuengling & Sons, Inc., a beer brewery operation. Greater Pottsville issued an Administrative Compliance Order to Yuengling on April 20, 2000, requiring them to take measures to return to compliance with their industrial discharge permit. Yuengling was violating its permit limits for pH, copper, and zinc. The plant was also a source of high BOD (biological oxygen demand) levels, which caused interference at the Treatment Works. They were required to submit a Corrective Action Plan if violations continued. Other actions required removal of old plant processing equipment and installation of more efficient equipment. Greater Pottsville advised EPA on September 12, 2002 that no progress had been made by Yuengling, even though Greater Pottsville had granted a ten-month extension.
EPA issued an Administrative Order, as well as an Administrative Complaint and Penalty Order, to Yuengling on January 3, 2003. As a result, Yuengling has combined all of their process discharges and monitors the flows and is looking at installing its own pretreatment system.
Borough of Ridgway, PA
The Borough of Ridgway, located in Elk County, PA, started its road to a pretreatment program in a litigious manner. In 1993, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources identified many operational problems at the Publicly Owned Treatment Works, directly related to discharges from local industries, many of which were processing metals. In June 1993, EPA required the Borough to develop an approvable pretreatment program. The program was approved by EPA in May 1996.
Ridgway regulates 6 Significant Industrial Users; most are either metal finishers or non-ferrous metal powder manufacturers. Several of these users were continually in significant noncompliance for the first 4 to 5 years of the program. Now, however, all but one are in compliance. Ridgway is now implementing a quality pretreatment program and has achieved one of the higher ratings of all of our programs. The municipality has submitted a reevaluation of their technically-based local limits. If found acceptable to EPA, this may alleviate the situation with regard to the user that is out of compliance.
City of Sharon, PA
This program was required to develop an approvable pretreatment program by their NPDES permit issued by PADEP in July, 2004. The City was slow in submitting the various required program elements, and EPA cited Sharon for Clean Water Act violations on October 4, 2004, and proposed a $32,500 administrative penalty. EPA and the City, along with its consultants have met and were continually in a dialogue to resolve this violation. The proposed pretreatment program is close to being approvable; the only remaining issue is handling of the interjurisdictional requirements between Sharon and its contributing municipalities.
After numerous delays and enforcement actions, on January 23, the City of Sharon, Mercer County, PA received final approval of its industrial pretreatment program from EPA. The most recent enforcement action was the signing of a Consent Agreement and Final Order on December 22, 2008. The POTW discharges to the Shenango River, and the service area encompasses portions of the Borough of Sharpsville, the city of Hermitage, South Pymantuning Township, and Trumbull County, Ohio. The Program will actually be implemented by the City of Sharon Sanitary Authority through an October 21, 2008 Resolution. The approved rpogram currently regulates 7 significant industrial users (SIUs), of which 2 are categorical industrial users. The major discharger is Dean Dairy, located in South Pymantuning Township.
Upper Gwynedd Township, Montgomery County, PA
As a result of a fish kill which occurred in June 2005, this municipality has been required to develop an approvable pretreatment program. The cause of the kill was a release of a cyanide-containing substance from Merck Pharmaceuticals, an industrial user located in the service area and a discharger to both the Upper Gwynedd Township POTW and the Upper Gwynedd - Towamencin POTW. EPA sent the municipality a letter on July 25, 2006 which requires a program to be develop within 1 year of the date of the letter. The Township submitted a schedule for submittal of the various program elements on August 30, 2006, and EPA is waiting for submittal of the first of these elements.
