Combined Sewer Project a Concern
By James Mayse, Messenger-Inquirer, Owensboro, Ky.
Jan. 17–In December, the Regional Water Resource Agency and the state Division of Water finalized an agreement that mandated RWRA create a plan to begin correcting combined sewer overflows in Owensboro.
Although there wasn’t a set deadline for RWRA to complete work on the city’s combined sewer system, the agreement was not exactly open-ended. The agreement included a timeline for the agency to submit a compliance plan to the state and gave RWRA the opportunity to set completion dates on the work.
A few days after the agreement was completed, however, the federal Environmental Protection Agency imposed a 10-year deadline for RWRA to finish work on the combined sewer system.
That deadline has agency executive director David Hawes concerned.
“Truly, no one will know what needs to be done until the plan is complete,” Hawes said Wednesday. The agency is seeking consultation from the state about what is expected from its compliance plan.
“We don’t want to do more than the federal government and the state require, but we don’t know what that endpoint is going to be yet,” Hawes said.
A combined sewer system is where rainwater enters a city’s sanitary sewers. During heavy rains, more water enters the system than can be treated at the city’s wastewater plant, and some water — including sewage — is discharged directly into streams or rivers.
Somewhere between 50 percent and 60 percent of the city of Owensboro is on a combined sewer system.
In August, RWRA and 15 other sewer agencies and cities entered into the agreement with the state to create plans to minimize or eliminate combined sewer overflows. The agreement gave the cities and agencies 12 months to outline what actions they would take to reduce combined sewer overflows and 24 months after that to file a long-term control plan.
Control plans to reduce combined sewer overflow are required under the federal Clean Water Act.
The agreement between RWRA and the state was finalized on Dec. 21. The EPA imposed a 10-year completion date on the agency on Dec. 27.
The EPA’s deadline requires RWRA to have all of its combined sewer overflow work done by Dec. 21, 2017.
Hawes said Wednesday the agency needs guidance from the state before submitting a long-term compliance plan for approval.
“On the federal level, they want to set a date” for the work to be complete, Hawes said. “Before you develop a plan, how do you do that?”
Hawes said RWRA officials want to meet with the Division of Water to discuss how the agency should craft its combined sewer overflow plan. “Until we get up there and understand what the state and federal government want, we’re in the dark,” Hawes said.
“What we’re saying is, instead of working for a year on an outline and (the state) saying, ‘Whoops, it’s not good,’ we’d like to meet periodically” and have state officials review the plan, Hawes said. “I think we’re trying to do it in a more systematic way (so) … as we go through the process, we’re accommodating their needs and doing what they want.”
Jeffrey Cummins, acting director of the Division of Water’s enforcement division, said the state was not involved with the EPA’s decision to place a 10-year deadline on the agreement with RWRA.
“Kentucky doesn’t have the authority to override an order issued by U.S. EPA,” Cummins said. “From our standpoint, the order from U.S. EPA stands … My understanding is there is a mechanism (for RWRA) to challenge or appeal the order.”
Hawes said there is no way to gauge the cost of the work the agency must do on the combined sewer system — or how customer rates will be affected — until the long-term compliance plan is approved.
“Until we know what they expect us to do and how much money they expect us to spend, I have no idea,” Hawes said.
Cummins said: “RWRA is required to manage their (combined sewer overflow). They’re required to … manage the impacts on water quality from CSO.
“What they’re required to do is manage to the best of their ability the entire system.”
If the sewer agency is unable to meet the federal deadline, they could has EPA for an extension, Cummins said.
There are number of ways the agency could attempt to eliminate combined sewer overflows, including installing separate sewer and storm water lines or building retention basins to hold storm runoff prior to treatment, Hawes said.
Building separate sewer and storm water lines across the entire city would be cost prohibitive, Hawes said. Meanwhile, building a retention basin to store all storm water for treatment would require hundreds of acres of basin, he said.
Hawes said the agency would likely undertake a combination of solutions in its long-term control plan, if the state approves.
Hawes said RWRA officials need state guidance on the plan “to make sure all money spent meets current and future standards.”
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