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U.S. and Pa. settle Clean Water Act case against Indiana; Municipality to upgrade sewers, end unlawful discharges

Release Date: 6/17/2002
Contact Information: Roy Seneca 215-814-5567

Contact: Roy Seneca (215) 814-5567
PITTSBURGH – Indiana Borough, Pa. has settled a lawsuit over illegal discharges of raw sewage into local waterways. These discharges violate the borough’s permit to discharge wastewater under the federal Clean Water Act. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Justice Department, and Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection are involved in the settlement.

In a settlement agreement filed today in federal court in Pittsburgh, Indiana Borough has agreed to spend $16.2 million to overhaul its municipal sewers to prevent discharges of untreated sewage to local waterways. EPA estimates that the borough discharges as much as 20 million gallons of untreated sewage annually. The borough has also agreed to pay a $240,000 penalty, split equally between U.S. and Pennsylvania, for its unlawful discharges, which contain fecal coliform and other pollutants. The consent decree is subject to a 30-day public comment period and final court approval.

“Indiana Borough is making a critical investment in water quality now that will protect the community’s economic and environmental health for years to come,” said Thomas C. Voltaggio, deputy administrator for EPA’s mid-Atlantic region.

“Today’s settlement with the Indiana Borough is the product of thorough cooperation resulting in a settlement that will benefit the wildlife who rely on clean water to live, as well as those who enjoy the recreation it provides,” said Tom Sansonetti, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division.

Wastewater from homes and businesses in Indiana Borough, located 56 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, is transported in a sanitary sewer system -- a network of sewer pipes connected to the city’s wastewater treatment plant. For the last several years, the borough has experienced frequent sanitary system overflows due to limited sewer system capacity and infiltration of water from storms and melting snow. These overflows contaminate waterways with bacteria, pathogens and other harmful pollutants, which can seriously degrade water quality, killing aquatic life and threatening public health.

According to state and federal officials, Indiana Borough’s wastewater plant has also repeatedly violated its Clean Water Act permit limits on discharges of fecal coliform, total suspended solids, and biological oxygen demand. The plant discharges to Stoney Run, a cold water fishery which flows into Two Lick Creek, a trout-stocked tributary of the Kiskiminetas River.

In today’s settlement, the Indiana has committed to complete the ongoing overhaul of its sewage collection and treatment system by July 1, 2003. The borough will increase the “peak flow capacity of its wastewater treatment plant from 14 million gallons per day (mgd) to 23.5 mgd, and the average daily flow capacity from 6 mgd to 8.2 mgd. The borough has also agreed to install or upgrade pollution control equipment throughout the plant, including a state-of-the-art ultraviolet light disinfection system to replace the existing chlorination system. The borough will also develop a formal plan to ensure that the renovated system will serve the community into the future.
EPA and the Justice Department are working with state environmental agencies to bring municipal sewer systems nationwide into compliance with the Clean Water Act. In recent years, the United States entered into settlements with several municipalities, including Atlanta, Baltimore, Baton Rouge, Boston, Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Honolulu, Jefferson County, Ala., Miami, Mobile, Ala., New Orleans, and San Diego.


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