Feds, State, Settle Clean Water Violations with Harrisburg and Capital Region Water
Agreement offers protections to public health, Susquehanna River and Chesapeake Bay
February 11, 2015
PHILADELPHIA, PA The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced a
proposed partial settlement with co-plaintiff Pennsylvania Department of
Environmental Protection (PADEP) and the City of Harrisburg and Capital Region
Water to resolve alleged Clean Water Act violations involving sewer overflows
and discharges of polluted stormwater to the Susquehanna River and Paxton
Creek. The agreement will help protect people’s health, the two impacted
waterways, and ultimately the Chesapeake Bay.
Under the proposed agreement,
Capital Region Water will take major steps to improve the operation and
maintenance of Harrisburg’s wastewater and stormwater collection systems,
including construction upgrades at its wastewater treatment plant. The upgrades
will significantly reduce discharges of nitrogen pollution from the plant,
which is currently the largest point-source of nitrogen pollution to the
Susquehanna River. In addition, Capital Region Water will conduct a
comprehensive assessment of existing conditions within its combined sewer
system and develop a long term control plan to curtail combined sewer
overflows.
The work under the partial
settlement is estimated to cost $82 million and be completed within a period of
about five years. Once a long term control plan is approved by EPA, the court
agreement will need to be modified, or a new one will need to be put in place
to include implementation of the plan.
“This settlement reflects EPA’s
commitment to an integrated approach for tackling multiple sewer and stormwater
overflow problems, and helping Pennsylvania meet the nitrogen and phosphorus
reduction goals for improving its local waters and restoring a healthy
Chesapeake Bay,” said EPA Regional Administrator Shawn M. Garvin. “This phased
approach for controlling combined sewer overflows over time includes some early
action projects to reduce pollution now, while conducting further assessment
and planning for long term solutions.”
The settlement, filed
simultaneously with the complaint in federal court in Harrisburg by the U.S.
Department of Justice on behalf of EPA and PADEP, addresses problems with
Harrisburg’s combined sewer system, which during rain events and dry weather,
frequently discharges raw sewage, industrial waste and polluted stormwater into
Paxton Creek and the Susquehanna River, which are part of the Chesapeake Bay
Watershed. The settlement does not impose civil penalties against the City due
to Harrisburg’s current financial situation.
Keeping raw sewage and contaminated
stormwater out of the waters of the United States is one of EPA’s National
Enforcement Initiatives. EPA is working to reduce discharges from sewer
overflows by obtaining commitments from cities to implement timely, affordable
solutions.
The proposed settlement is subject
to a 30-day comment period and court approval after it is published in the
federal register. It will be available at: http://www.justice.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html