Clean Water Advocacy - Newsroom - AMSA in the News
WASTE NEWS
Lawmakers attempt to block EPA from adopting
sewage rule
By Bruce Geiselman
March 7 -- Four Congressmen introduced a bill March 3 that would block
federal regulators from adopting guidelines specifically allowing wastewater
plant operators to blend and discharge partially treated sewage with fully
treated sewage during periods of unusually heavy rain or snowmelt.
Reps. Bart Stupak, D-Mich.; Mark Steven Kirk, R-Ill.; Frank Pallone Jr., D-N.J.;
and E. Clay Shaw Jr., R-Fla., introduced the legislation one week after 135
bipartisan members of Congress sent a letter to Environmental Protection Agency
Administrator Stephen Johnson asking the agency to abandon the proposal.
Stupak expressed concern about future outbreaks of waterborne illnesses if the
blending rule goes into effect. "Billions of gallons of human waste are dumped
into our Great Lakes and other water resources each year," Stupak said. "This
sort of outbreak can happen again if we don´t act now to prevent the EPA from
rolling back our clean water standards."
Kirk said a rule legitimizing the dumping of partially treated sewage into the
Great Lakes would result in more beach closings.
While the congressmen and environmentalists contend that the rule change would
endanger the environment and public health, proponents, including the
Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies, say the opposite is true.
Blending effluent, which already takes place, meets Clean Water Act permit
requirements and protects the public health, according to the association. The
new guidance would clarify the federal government´s policy, according to the
sewerage association.
Blending effluent prevents a sewer system from "washout," a condition in which
the sewer system is overwhelmed by volume and untreated sewage is released,
according to the association. Blending protects the nation´s waterways,
according to the association.
While environmentalists and the sewerage association disagree on the sewage
blending proposal, they agree that the federal government should increase
funding to help communities upgrade their wastewater treatment plants in order
to handle greater volumes during periods of heavy rain or snowmelt.