EPA v. DETROIT, MICHIGAN-CITY OF/STATE OF MICHIGAN

Case summary

THE CITY OF DETROIT HAS VIOLATED ITS NPDES PERMIT BY FAIL- ING TO IMPLEMENT AND ENFORCE ITS APPROVED PRETREATMENT PRO- GRAM. THE STATE OF MICHIGAN IS BEING JOINED, PURSUANT TO SECTION 309(E) OF THE CLEAN WATER ACT. - IN PARTICULAR, DETROIT HAS FAILED TO IMPLEMENT THE FOLLOWING REQUIREMENTS OF ITS APPROVED PRETREATMENT PROGRAM: SYSTEMA- TICALLY IDENTIFY ALL ITS INDUSTRIAL USERS; FULLY SCREEN SAMPLING DATA TO DETERMINE IF ITS INDUSTRIAL USERS ARE COM- PLYING WITH ALL INSTANCES OF NONCOMPLIANCE BY ITS ENFORCE- MENT RESPONSE BEYOND THE ISSUANCE OF NOTICES OF VIOLATIONS AND NON-PUNITIVE COMPLIANCE SCHEDULES. REGION V BELIEVES THAT DETROIT'S FAILURE TO SCREEN MONITORING DATA FOR COMPLI- ANCE WITH ALL PRETREATMENT STANDARDS, COUPLED WITH THE LACK OF MEANINGFUL ENFORCEMENT BY DETROIT, MEANS THAT DETROIT IS FAILING TO IMPLEMENT ONE OF THE FUNDAMENTAL OBLIGATIONS OF A LOCAL PRETREATMENT PROGRAM: TO ENSURE THAT INDUSTRIAL USERS COMPLY WITH PRETREATMENT STANDARDS. REGION V BELIEVES THAT DETROIT'S FAILURE TO IMPLEMENT AND ENFORCE ITS PRETREATMENT PROGRAM IS CONTRIBUTING TO THE POLLUTION OF THE ROUGE RIVER AND THE DETROIT RIVER, AS WELL AS LAKE ERIE. -

Defendants (1)

• DETROIT, MICHIGAN-CITY OFNamed in complaint

Facilities (1)

• DETROIT CITY

  2633 MICHIGAN, DETROIT, MI, 48202

  Registry ID: 110007271790

Statutes cited

• CWA 301/307 — Effluent Limitations - NPDES Toxic & Pretreatment Effluent Standards
• CWA 301A — Clean Water Act

Timeline (5 milestones)

• 1988-07-29Enforcement Action Data Entered
• 1989-08-08Referred To Dept Of Justice
• 1989-11-21Complaint Filed With Court
• 1996-10-01Concluded
• 1996-10-01Enforcement Action Closed