The federal and state governments settled a lawsuit over Clean Water Act violations with the Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority.
The lawsuit involved violations of the “sanitary sewer overflows – typically in the form of wastewater overflowing from manholes – and operation and maintenance violations under its state-issued permits,” according to U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Jennifer Arbittier Williams.
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According to authorities, the federal government and state government filed a proposed consent decreed to resolve the lawsuit at the same time they sued.
The Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority accepted the proposed consent decree. The proposed consent decree is subject to a 30-day public comment period and approval by a federal judge.
“The Authority will pay a $450,000 penalty and will be obligated to devote substantial resources to evaluate and upgrade its sewer systems as part of the decree,” federal authorities said.
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“Along with the financial penalty, the Authority has agreed to evaluate its collection system and adopt extensive measures to ensure compliance with the federal and state requirements. These measures include 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,” federal authorities added.
As part of the settlement, the Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority did not admit liability for the alleged violations.
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The Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority operates water and sewer systems throughout the county, including in the Levittown area.
“The Authority’s service areas have historically suffered from sanitary sewer overflows, including more than 100 that have occurred in Plumstead Township since 2014. In that timeframe, multiple overflows have also occurred in Bensalem, Richland, Doylestown Borough, Middletown, Upper Dublin, and New Hope-Solebury,” federal officials said.
“It’s no secret that many communities in the United States are grappling with issues caused by aging infrastructure, especially here on the East Coast which employs some of the oldest systems. However, there are ways to manage and address these issues in order to maintain the safety of our environment and property. Here, this consent decree will greatly reduce the problem of sewage in streets, basements, waterways in Bucks County and beyond,” said Williams, the top federal prosecutor and regional attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice. “We thank the Authority for working cooperatively to reach this resolution that will surely improve public health and environmental quality.”
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“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,” said Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Patrick McDonnell. “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.”
Federal officials said the Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority cooperated with the investigation.
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Below is a statement from the Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority:
Bucks County Water & Sewer Authority (‘BCSWA”) has entered into a Consent Decree with the United States and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania regarding sanitary sewer overflows within its service area. BCSWA has reviewed a press release issued by the federal government just made available to it, in which the United States notes that it is pleased that BCSWA has agreed to take extensive steps to upgrade its sewer system, particularly in the Plumstead area of Bucks County. However, it is important to note that BCSWA did not wait until the Consent Decree was finalized before taking action in Plumstead Township. Rather, BCSWA has been actively addressing overflow issues in Plumstead Township for a number of years, specifically with respect to the impact that private properties in the area have had on sanitary sewer overflows. Storm water originating from laterals on private properties, including those properties that have experienced flooding issues due to a lack of storm drains or a malfunction of existing storm drains in PENNDOT right-of-ways. It is significant to note that, although BCWSA does not own any of these private laterals, it nevertheless has taken a proactive approach to remedy this situation by providing assistance to the residents to repair their private laterals and has indeed had some success with this approach. To date, BCSWA has repaired or replaced more than 75 laterals on private property, and continues to CCTV and monitor its system during rain events. To reiterate, BCWSA has undertaken such work despite having no ownership interest in these laterals. This ongoing work has had a significant positive impact on BCSWA’s system and has reduced the number and duration of SSO’s during rain events. In addition, BCSWA has met with PENNDOT and elected officials from Plumstead Township on a number of occasions in order to facilitate the installation of the needed storm water facilities in Plumstead Township to alleviate the flooding and carry the water away from the private lateral vent stacks that are being inundated during rain events. Despite its efforts and commitment to addressing the impact of stormwater from the private laterals, there is still additional work that is required, which BCSWA will continue to pursue consistent with the Consent Decree.
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