EPA v. REVERE CITY OF

Case summary

On April 11, 2024, the U.S. Court for the District of Massachusetts entered a major modification to a 2010 Consent Decree (CD) which the United States and Massachusetts had entered into with the City of Revere, Ma to address Clean Water Act violations related to wastewater and stormwater collection issues. The original 2010 CD required a substantial amount of infrastructure work to be completed by December 31, 2022. Since then, the City has diligently worked towards improving its wastewater and stormwater collection systems under the 2010 CD. However, the City recognized that it still had a significant amount of additional work to perform under its Comprehensive Wastewater Management Plan/Comprehensive Stormwater Management Plan and has proposed a significant number of new infrastructure improvements through 2038. The Parties agreed to modify the Consent Decree to incorporate these new projects and require completion of these additional projects under a specific schedule, the last project to be completed by December 31, 2038. On June 5, 2023, Region 1 referred a civil enforcement action to the Department of Justice (DOJ) asking that it file a major modification to a Consent Decree (CD) entered into with the City of Revere, Ma (City) to perform additional sanitary sewer and stormwater infrastructure projects. The major modification will require a new assessment of the level of service of the City's sewer system and associated risk of capacity-related sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs) using best available precipitation data and a calibrated sewer system model to predict the risk of capacity-related SSOs for 1-year, 5-year, and 10-year storm events. The major modification will also require the development and assessment of alternatives to achieve the goal of the 2010 CD to prevent collection system surcharges or capacity-related SSO events. Finally, the major modification will require the City to implement projects to attain the target level of sewer system service in the City of a 10-year design storm as presented in the recommended plan. All work under the CD shall be completed by December 31, 2038 and be designed and constructed in a manner that addresses climate change in this coastal low-lying City. The projects under the major modification are expected to cost over $100 million and benefit a dense residential area with a significant population that falls under environmental justice guidelines. The Region has coordinated with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection which is a co-plaintiff CWA Civil Judicial Consent Decree in U.S. and Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. City of Revere Addressing Wastewater and Stormwater Discharges Entered by the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts On November 16, 2010, a consent decree settling claims against the City of Revere, Massachusetts (a community of approximately 47,000 residents) for CWA violations was entered by the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. The U.S.'s complaint, filed simultaneously with the lodging of the consent decree, alleges that the City discharges pollutants from its municipal separate storm sewer system and wastewater collection system. The City will spend at least $3 million and up to approximately $50 million to address these illegal discharges. Massachusetts is an assented-to plaintiff-intervenor in the case and is a party to the settlement. Under the, the City agreed to pay a $130,000 penalty (split 75%/25% between the U.S. and the Commonwealth). The City will implement a comprehensive, system-wide plan to ensure that all sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs) that are associated with insufficient capacity of its separate wastewater collection system are prevented within 12 years. Revere will also address discharges from its separate storm sewer system that cause or contribute to violations of water quality standards.

Defendants (1)

• REVERE CITY OFNamed in complaintNamed in settlement

Facilities (1)

• REVERE CITY OF

  281 BROADWAY STREET, REVERE, MA, 02151

  Registry ID: 110028102176

Statutes cited

• CWA 504 — Emergency Powers
• CWA 301 — NPDES Discharge without a Permit

Enforcement conclusions (2)

• REVERE CITY OFentered 2010-11-16

  Primary law: CWA

  Federal penalty: $97,500 · State/local: $32,500

• REVERE CITY OFentered 2024-04-11

  Primary law: CWA

Timeline (5 milestones)

• 2006-12-13Enforcement Action Data Entered
• 2007-09-27Referred To Dept Of Justice
• 2010-08-25Complaint Filed With Court
• 2023-10-26Final Order Lodged
• 2024-04-11Final Order Entered