Allegations of Clean Water Act violations arising from wastewater overflows in Bucks County, Pennsylvania have been resolved after a recent settlement that includes the payment of $450,000 and a commitment to improving the sewer system.
Buck County Water & Sewer Authority, with a service area that has experienced multiple overflows since 2014, allegedly failed to properly maintain an adequate sewer system and monitoring program during the timeframe, an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) press release said. The allegations violate the federal Clean Water Act in addition to the regional Pennsylvania Clean Streams Law.
“We’re pleased that the water and sewer authority has agreed to take extensive steps to upgrade and improve sewer systems for Bucks County, particularly the Plumstead area,” Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division said in the release.
More than 100 sewer overflows have occurred in Plumstead Township since 2014, the release said, primarily through wastewater emerging from manholes. Several more overflows were reported in “Bensalem, Richland, Doylestown Borough, Middletown, Upper Dublin and New Hope/Solebury.”
The U.S. government and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) filed a civil lawsuit against the Authority resulting in the settlement, the release said. As part of the agreement, the Authority will improve their systems by “monitoring water flow; modelling the collection system; conducting inflow and infiltration evaluations; identifying and remedying hydraulic capacity limitations; addressing illegal sewer connections; and improving its overall operation and maintenance program.”
Waste overflows can spread bacteria, toxins and pesticides, causing significant concerns for public health, the release said.
“Protecting the air, land, and water from pollution, while providing for the health and safety of our citizens is the very mission of our agency,” Secretary Patrick McDonnell of DEP said in the release. “We are accomplishing just that through this coordinated and cooperative effort, not only with our federal partners at EPA, but with the Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority as well.”
