Clean Water Advocacy - Newsroom - NACWA in the News
Waste News
Copyright 2005 Crain Communications Inc.
May 23, 2005
Volume 11; Issue 2
Section: Cover Story
Mix Nixed
EPA Says Blending Plan Won't Fix Sewage Overflow Problem
Bruce Geiselman
Federal environmental regulators, reacting to criticism from the public and
members of Congress, have dropped plans to finalize a sewage blending policy
unveiled in November 2003 that was favored by operators of wastewater treatment
systems.
``Blending is not a long-term solution,'' said Benjamin Grumbles, an assistant
administrator at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, when he announced the
agency's decision May 19. ``Our goal is to reduce overflows and increase
treatment of wastewater to protect human health and the environment.''
After receiving nearly 100,000 public comments, the agency now will determine
other options to address pollutant discharges during wet weather conditions,
according to the EPA.
Groups representing municipal wastewater system operators endorsed the blending
policy, which allows for mixing partially treated wastewater with treated
wastewater and discharging it during periods of heavy rainfall to prevent sewer
systems from overflowing. They said the guidance would have recognized
decades-old procedures operators use during wet weather conditions to maximize
wastewater treatment.
``We're disappointed by the EPA's decision,'' said Adam Krantz, a spokesman for
the National Association of Clean Water Agencies, which was previously known as
the Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies. ``There, unfortunately, have
been a lot of mischaracterizations of the blending issue.''
EPA officials said they would work with Congress, the public and communities to
develop other solutions that will protect water quality and ensure compliance
with the Clean Water Act.
NACWA plans to work with the EPA on developing a policy that ensures
municipalities' interests are represented, Krantz said.
Numerous environmental groups and members of Congress objected to the blending
proposal, saying it would damage water quality for those who swim, boat and fish
in lakes and rivers.
Despite the EPA's announcement, a spokeswoman for Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich.,
said the congressman decided to continue moving forward with a measure to block
the EPA from finalizing the sewage blending policy. The House approved attaching
the amendment to an appropriations bill for the Interior Department and EPA.
Congress took the action only hours after the EPA announcement.
``I'm pleased to see the work we've done in Congress has forced the EPA to
withdraw their proposal and finally do their job to protect the environment,''
Stupak said. ``I am even more pleased that the passage of our amendment today
sent an even stronger message that Congress does not support a policy that would
put public health, environment and industry in danger.''
Eric Schaeffer, a former EPA official who now heads the Environmental Integrity
Project, an advocacy group, also welcomed the EPA announcement. ``We think it's
great - a step in the right direction,'' said Schaeffer, who added the agency
needs to take enforcement actions against cities that illegally blend sewage.
The EPA announced its decision not to adopt the blending policy only two days
after the Environmental Integrity Project released a report that said sewer
overflows in six upper Midwestern states have resulted in large amounts of
untreated sewage contaminating lakes and waterways.
Combined sewer overflows pose a major threat to public health and will degrade
upper Midwestern waterways for several decades if the problem is not brought
under control, according to the report, released May 17.
More than half of the municipalities in the six-state region - encompassing
Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin - do not meet minimum
Clean Water Act requirements for combined sewer overflows, according to the
report. Nor do they have approved long-term plans in place for upgrading the
sewage systems, according to the report.
Combined sewer systems carry both stormwater and sewage to a treatment plant.
Problems occur during heavy rainfalls, when the systems can overflow, spewing
raw sewage into lakes and rivers.
Cities and states need funding to correct the problems. But proposed federal
budget cuts threaten to make the situation worse, according to the EIP study and
representatives of regional environmental groups.
``We can afford to clean up [combined sewer overflows],'' said Erin Bowser,
director of Ohio Public Interest Research Group. ``Cities like Youngstown and
Toledo, Ohio, have demonstrated that costs can be managed, but there is no
question that cleanup costs money, which is why Congress should reverse the Bush
administration's proposed cuts to the federal revolving loan fund used to help
offset the cost of sewer upgrades.''
The Bush administration's proposed fiscal 2006 budget calls for a $360 million
reduction in funding for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, which loans money
to communities for sewer upgrades. EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson has
defended the funding level as adequate. But Senate Environment Committee
Chairman James Inhofe, R-Okla., has criticized the funding level as inadequate
in light of the costs local communities must bear to meet federal standards.