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Release Date: 08/24/2000
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SETTLEMENT WITH ONONDAGA COUNTY FINALIZED IN FEDERAL COURT County Has Already Paid Penalty and Taken Steps to Comply with Pre-Treatment Program Requirements and Will Undertake Project to Further Reduce Phosphorus in Lake Syracuse, New York -- Onondaga County has paid $468,000 in penalties to the federal government, $156,000 to New York State and will undertake at least a $750,000 program to reduce nonpoint sources of pollution from agricultural areas to reduce the discharge of pollutants into the Onondaga Lake drainage area, according to the terms of an agreement reached with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and New York State. The agreement, finalized when a Federal judge entered it in Federal Court on August 11, settles a lawsuit brought by EPA, joined by New York State, against Onondaga County alleging violations of the "pre-treatment" provisions of the federal Clean Water Act at its sewage treatment plants, including the Metropolitan Syracuse Sewage Treatment Plant, which discharges into Onondaga Lake. According to the May 1991 lawsuit, the County failed to issue discharge permits to some industries that discharge into the sewage treatment plant. The County also failed to take action against industries that violated the discharge permits and failed to inspect facilities, many of which frequently violated their permits. The County has already paid the penalties due and has taken steps to come into compliance by identifying all industries subject to pre-treatment limits, issuing permits to those industries, taking enforcement actions against industries that violate their permits, and conducting unannounced annual inspections of industries. In addition, Onondaga County will spend at least $750,000 to implement its own nonpoint source pollution control program to reduce erosion and the amount of phosphorus which runs into the lake’s drainage area from farms. Phosphorous is a nutrient that causes overgrowth of certain plants, which chokes marine life by starving it of oxygen. Phosphorus has been identified as a key pollution problem in Onondaga Lake.