Clean Water Advocacy - Newsroom - AMSA in the News
Pollution Engineering
April 1, 2005
Municipal Coalition Urges EPA to Finish Blending Policy
The Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies joined a broad coalition of
municipalities representing more than 20 national and state organizations in
requesting that the EPA finalize its Nov. 7, 2003 blending policy.
The group was responding to criticisms that the EPA’s policy constituted an
environmental rollback, claiming that blending is a necessary tool that has been
used and accepted for over 30 years as a part of their wet weather management
strategies to ensure that excess flows from heavy rains and snowmelt receive the
greatest treatment possible under extreme wet weather conditions. Blended
effluent fully meets Clean Water Act permit requirements and protects public
utility infrastructure from washout while preventing the release of untreated
sewage into the environment.
The group noted that a final policy would recognize that already scarce public
resources must be used to support meaningful, environmentally beneficial water
protection efforts at the local level. They also believe that a final national
blending policy affirming this critical practice is essential to communities
across the country to provide treatment for unpredictable, exceptionally heavy
precipitation and prevent the discharge of untreated sewage.