EPA v. HAMILTON COUNTY WATER & WASTEWATER TREATMENT AUTHORITY (WWTA)

Case summary

JULY 15, 2024 - CONSENT DECREE This is a Clean Water Act enforcement case against a water and wastewater utility in Hamilton County, Tennessee (Hamilton County Water and Wastewater Authority, or WWTA). The violations include numerous sanitary sewer overflows, bypasses of treatment at a sewage treatment plant, and effluent limit and violations of a National Pollutant Discharge and Elimination System (NPDES) permit issued to WWTA to authorize discharges from the Signal Mountain Sewage Treatment Plan, owned and operated by WWTA. The Consent Decree requires WWTA to assess and remediate problems and deficiencies in its sewer system to eliminate SSOs, bypasses, and permit violations. SEPTEMBER 29, 2023 - COMPLIANT FILED This is a Clean Water Act case addressing numerous sanitary sewer overflows from the Defendant?s wastewater collection and transmission system and prohibited bypasses of treatment at the Defendant?s Signal Mountain Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP). Additional NPDES permit violations include effluent limit violations and violations of the permit condition requiring proper operation and maintenance of facilities to achieve compliance with permit requirements. The State of Tennessee is a co-plaintiff for these federal claims based on its state statutes implementing the federal Clean Water Act, and is also asserting state law only claims based on violations of the state operating permit for the portion of the wastewater collection and transmission system that sends wastewater to Chattanooga instead of to its own NPDES permitted Signal Mountain WWTP. THIS REFERRAL ADDRESSES VIOLATIONS OF THE CWA BY HAMILTON COUNTY WATER & WASTEWATER AUTHORITY (WWTA), INCLUDING CWA 301(a) AND 402 WHICH PROHIBIT DISCHARGES OF POLLUTANTS TO SURFACE WATERS UNLESS IN COMPLAINCE WITH LIMITS CONTAINED IN A NPDES PERMIT. DURING THE PERIOD FROM JUNE 1, 2009 THRU MAY 31, 2014, WWTA HAD AT LEAST 936 VIOLATIONS OF ITS NPDES PERMITS VIA UNAUTHORIZED DISCHARGES, NAMELY SSOs FROM ITS WASTEWATER COLLECTION SYSTEM (WCTS). THESE VIOLATIONS ARE BASED UPON DATA SUBMITTED TO EPA AND THE STATE OF TN BY WWTA AS WELL AS ON OBSERVATIONS MADE BY EPA INSPECTORS DURING A COMPLIANCE EVALUATION INSPECTION (CEI) CONDUCTED JUNE 11, 2014. WWTA IS A WASTEWATER SATELLITE COMMUNITY RELATIVE TO THE CITY OF CHATTANOOGA IN THAT A LARGE PORTION OF THE WASTEWATER GENERATE IN WWTA's SERVICE AREA IS CONVEYED TO THE REGIONAL WWTP AT MOCASSIN BEND FOR TREATMENT. THE REGIONAL WWTP IS OWNED AND OPERATED BY THE CITY OF CHATTANOOGA, TN. THE WCTS THAT SERVES WWTA INCLUDE APPROX 394 MILES OF SANITARY SEWER LINES, 60 SANITARY SEWER PUMP STATIONS, AND ASSOCIATED APPURTENANCES. WWTA'S WCTS IS A SEPARATE SEWER SYSTEM DESIGNED TO CONVEY ONLY MUNICIPAL, COMMERCIAL, AND INDUSTRIAL WASTEWATER AND NOT STORMWATER. THE SERVICE AREA IS APPROX 576 SQ MILES WITH A TOTAL ESTIMATED SERVICE POPULATED OF 57,000. BASED UPON THE INFO WWTA SUBMITTED TO EPA AND TDEC, EPA HAS DETERMINED THAT WWTA HAS EXPERIENCED NUMEROUS VIOLATIONS OF THE CWA INCLUDING SSOs WITHIN THE WCTS. THESE VIOLATIONS HAVE RESULTED IN A THREAT TO HUMAN HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT INCLUDING THE POSSIBLE DEGRADATION OF WATER QUALITY IN SURROUNDING WATERVODIES AS EVIDENCED BY THE TN RIVER BEING LISTED ON THE STATE OF TN'S SECTION 303(d) LIST AS NOT MEETING WATER QUALITY STANDARDS FOR PATHOGENS AND OTHER PARAMETERS. EPA SEEKS THE PERFORMANCE OF SPECIFIC INJUNCTIVE RELIEF BY WWTA INCLUDING THE DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF CAPACITY, MANAGEMENT, OPERATIONS, AND MAINTENANCE PROGRAMS AND THE COMPLETION OF SANITARY SEWER SYSTEM ASSESSMENTS AS WELL AS ANY ASSOCIATED REHABILITATION/CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS.

Defendants (1)

• HAMILTON COUNTYNamed in complaintNamed in settlement

Facilities (1)

• HAMILTON COUNTY WASTEWATER TREATMENT AUTHORITY, SIGNAL MOUNTAIN STP

  SUCK CREEK ROAD, SIGNAL MOUNTAIN, TN, 37377

  Registry ID: 110064256246

Statutes cited

• CWA 301 — NPDES Discharge without a Permit
• CWA 301/402 — NPDES Permit Violations

Enforcement conclusions (1)

• HAMILTON COUNTY WATER & WASTEWATER TREATMENT AUTHORITY (WWTA)entered 2024-07-15

  Primary law: CWA

  Federal penalty: $299,245 · State/local: $299,245

Timeline (5 milestones)

• 2015-08-15Referred To Dept Of Justice
• 2015-09-01Enforcement Action Data Entered
• 2023-09-28Complaint Filed With Court
• 2023-09-29Final Order Lodged
• 2024-07-15Final Order Entered