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Salisbury Settles Clean Water Act Case with EPA

Release Date: 4/23/2002
Contact Information: Roy Seneca, (215) 814-5567

Contact: Roy Seneca, (215) 8145567

PHILADELPHIA – The city of Salisbury, Md. has settled Clean Water Act violations at the city’s wastewater treatment plant, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today. In a consent agreement with EPA, Salisbury agreed to pay a $40,000 penalty and complete two special environmental projects in addition to making improvements to the city’s wastewater treatment systems.

The city’s sewage treatment facility on Marine Road treats sewage and industrial wastewater prior to discharge to the Wicomico River.

“This agreement will better protect aquatic life in the Wicomico River and contribute to the overall environmental health of the Chesapeake Bay, which is so important to communities throughout the eastern shore,” said Donald S. Welsh, regional administrator to EPA’s mid-Atlantic region.

Under the Clean Water Act, owners of public wastewater treatment plants must enforce a “pretreatment” program, requiring industrial users to limit pollutants discharged to the plants. The pretreatment standards – which are generally enforced through permits issued to industrial users – are designed to avoid overburdening the plant’s own treatment capacity.

EPA filed a complaint in December 2000 for alleged violations that included:

• discharging excessive amounts of metals such as silver, lead and zinc into the Wicomico River.
• failing to take sufficient enforcement action against Perdue Farms and K&L Microwave for wastewater treatment violations.
• allowing raw sewage to flow directly into the Wicomico River watershed, which was due to the facility’s inadequate backup facilities.

Silver in water can kill beneficial algae in the treatment process, disrupting the plant’s ability to remove pollutants. Water with dissolved silver can kill fish eggs, cause skin irritations to swimmers and accumulate in tissues of humans and aquatic life, causing discoloration and organ damage. High levels of lead in water can harm aquatic life, wildlife, and livestock, and can be lethal. Lead poisoning can cause learning impairments in children. In adults, lead can disrupt the digestive and nervous system.

Since EPA filed the complaint, Salisbury has taken steps to upgrade treatment facilities and continues to work with industrial customers to reduce the amount of silver entering the system.

In addition to the penalty, Salisbury agreed to complete two supplemental environmental projects that exceed the requirements of federal and state law.

First, Salisbury will install and operate a monitoring and control system for the city’s drinking water plant and wastewater treatment system, allowing prompt responses to malfunctions. The system is expected to cost in excess of $200,000.

Second, the city will install and operate facilities to collect floating waste from its separate municipal storm water system, at an estimated cost of $17,000, thereby reducing the amount of trash, debris, and greasy film, which are sometimes visible in some parts of the watershed.

In a related issue, the Maryland Department of the Environment and Perdue reached a settlement whereby Perdue agreed to pay $40,000 to the Maryland Clean Water Fund to resolve the alleged pretreatment violations.