Clean Water Advocacy - Newsroom - AMSA in the News
KEY GROUPS FACE OFF OVER EPA'S DRAFT WASTEWATER BLENDING GUIDANCE
Date: December 29, 2003 -
The Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies (AMSA) sent a letter to
Congress in what they say is an effort to separate "fact from fiction" on the
effects of wastewater blending, even as environmentalists are mounting a
campaign to derail a draft EPA policy allowing the process.
The AMSA letter to Congress includes a "fact sheet" supporting the Bush
administration's decision this fall to move ahead with a policy that would allow
publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) to bypass secondary, microbial treatment
of wastewater and blend that water with fully treated effluent in order to meet
discharge requirements in the event the facility is pushed over its normal
operating capacity, such as during a wet weather event. The policy has met with
opposition from environmental groups who say the policy could result in putting
the public at risk from pathogens in the water.
AMSA and other proponents of the policy argue it is impossible for wastewater
treatment plants to be constructed economically in a way that allows for full
treatment of water taken in by the facility during severe wet weather events.
They also say that even when facilities discharge blended water, they still have
to meet their National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit
requirements.
AMSA's fact sheet includes a long list of concerns regarding blending that the
organization separates into what it says are "fact or fiction." Relevant
documents are available on InsideEPA.com.
"Blending ensures that during periods of heavy rain, excess wastewater flows
receive treatment in full compliance with POTW Clean Water Act permit
requirements. Blending protects POTW biological units from washout, and homes
and businesses from sewer backups, both of which have adverse environmental and
public health consequences," the AMSA letter states. "The groups advocating a
blending prohibition have no regard for the negative environmental impacts and
the $100 to $200 billion dollars in unnecessary costs that their approach would
impose on our nation's communities."
However, environmentalists are hoping to spark a massive influx of comments
opposing the policy to EPA through a new form letter being put forward by the
National Resources Defense Council. EPA is accepting comments on the policy
until Jan. 9.
"Blending is dangerous because it would allow sewage-infested wastewater to be
discharged without removing most of the pathogenic organisms and other
pollutants," the letter states. "The proposed policy would allow blending even
when feasible alternatives exist, such as constructing additional capacity or
storing sewage until it could be fully treated."
Wastewater treatment industry attorneys and environmentalists disagree over the
actual impact of the draft policy, which was issued shortly before EPA
Administrator Mike Leavitt took office in November. The policy indicates that
POTWs can have criteria for bypassing secondary treatment of wastewater written
into their NPDES discharge permits.
Environmentalists say the guidance does not seem to definitively restrict such
bypasses to wet weather events, while a POTW attorney says the guidance includes
language that allows states and regions to use their own discretion in applying
it to CWA permits. Another POTW attorney says the discretionary language is just
for show (Water Policy Report, Nov. 17, p14).