HomeMy Public PortalAboutAmended Signage OrderUNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
REGION 7
901 NORTH 5TH STREET
KANSAS CITY, KANSAS 66101
JUL 2 2008
CERTIFIED MAIL
RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED
Mr. Jeffrey Theeiman
Executive Director
Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District
2350 Market Street
St. Louis, Missouri 63103-2555
Re; Second Amended Findings. of Violation and Order for Compliance
Dear Mr. Theerman:
Enclosed is our Second Amended Order which reflects the modifications EPA agreed to
based on your April 22, 2008 letter. For this year, complete the inspection of the downstream
• signs for this recreation season in July. You will also note paragraph 25 has been modified to
request some additional information on your quarterly Sanitary Sewer Overflow monitoring
report.
If you have any questions, please contact Martha Steincamp at (913) 551-7246 or Jodi
Bruno at (913) 551-7810.
Sincerely,
CW.620A, PlcX
William A. Spratlin
Director
Water, Wetland and Pesticides Division
Enclosure
RECYCLED
l FIBER
UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
REGION VII 08 Jd - 2 i =i ,' ` 9
901 NORTH 5TH STREET
tiS i
KANSAS CITY, KANSAS 66101
REC! •`., L. ARMG CLERK
IN THE MATTER OF:
Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District
Respondent
Proceedings under Section 309(a)(3)
of the Clean Water Act,
33 U.S.C. § 1319(a)(3)
SECOND AMENDED FINDINGS
OF VIOLATION AND ORDER
FOR COMPLIANCE
Docket No. CWA-07-2007-0042
I. Preliminary Statement
1. These SECOND AMENDED FINDINGS OF VIOLATION are made and ORDER FOR
COMPLIANCE is issued pursuant to the authority vested in the Administrator of the
United States Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA"), by Section 309(a)(3) of the
Clean Water Act ("CWA" or the "Act"), 33 U.S.C. § 1319(a)(3), as delegated by the
Administrator to the Regional Administrator, EPA, Region VII, and further delegated to
the Director, Water, Wetlands and Pesticides Division, EPA, Region VII. On April 30,
2007, FINDINGS OF VIOLATION and ORDER FOR COMPLIANCE was issued to the
Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District ("MSD"). Based on additional infoaination
presented by MSD, EPA is issuing this Second Amended Order.
2. MSD serves a population of approximately 1.4 million and the MSD service area
includes 90% of the City. of St. Louis and St. Louis County. As of January 1, 2000, MSD
serviced 428,000 accounts: 354,000 single farnily residence; 48,000 multi -family
(apartments, condos) and 26,000 commercial/industrial. MSD currently operatesnine
treatment facilities and, treats an average of 320 million gallons of sewage per day.
Additionally, MSD is responsible for operating and maintaining approximately 8,900
miles of sewers, including 2,617 miles of stormwater sewers, 4,495 miles of sanitary
sewers and 1,847 miles of combined sewers.
3. MSD owns and operates Publicly Owned Treatment Works ("POTWs") that include nine
wastewater treatment plants and associated collection systems that serve the citizens of
St. Louis, Missouri, and several surrounding counties and municipalities. Seven of the
wastewater treatment plants owned and operated by MSD are generally located within the
separate sanitary sewer system and discharge pollutants into the Mississippi River,
Meramec River and Missouri River and their tributaries. These separate sanitary sewer
system wastewater treatment plants are the Coldwater Creek
Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District
Second Amended Findings of Violation and Order for Compliance
Page 2 of 10
Wastewater Treatment Facility, Fenton Wastewater Treatment Facility, Lower Meramec
Wastewater Treatment Facility, Missouri River Wastewater Treatment Facility,
Baumgartner Lagoon, Grand Glaize Wastewater Treatment Facility, and the New Lower
Meramec Wastewater Treatment facility. MSD also owns and operates two' wastewater
treatment plants generally located within the combined sewer system area; Bissell Point
Wastewater Treatment Plant and the Lemay Wastewater Treatment Plant. These
treatment plants discharge pollutants into the Mississippi River.
4. The Missouri Department of Natural Resources ("MDNR") is the agency within the State
of Missouri that has been authorized to administer the federal National Pollutant
Discharge Elimination System ("NPDES") pursuant to Section 402 of the CWA and its
implementing regulations_ The EPA maintains concurrent enforcement authority with
authorized state NPDES programs for violations of the CWA and NPDES permits.
IL Jurisdiction and Findings of Violation
The EPA finds:
5.. Section 301(a) of the CWA, 33 U.S.C. § 1311(a), prohibits the discharge of pollutants
except in compliance with permits issued under the authority of Section 402 of the CWA,
33 U.S.C. § 1342. Section 402 of the CWA provides that pollutants may be discharged
only in accordance with the terms of a NPDES pen nit issued pursuant to that Section.
6. MSD is a "person" within the meaning of Section 502(5) the CWA, 33 U.S.C. § 1362(5).
7. Pursuant to § 402 of the CWA, 33 U.S.C. § 1342, MDNR has issued NPDES Penults to
MSD that are listed in Table 1:
TABLE 1: MDNR Issued NPDES Individual Wastewater Permits for MSD POTWs
Permit No.
Issued
Expiration Date
Facility Name
M00025178
12/30/2005
Rev. 1/27/2006
12/29/2010
Bissell Point WWTF
M00088463
11/20/2004
Rev. 3/09/2007
2/19/2009
Baumgartner Lagoon
MO0025160
12/30/2005
12/29/2010
Coldwater Creek
WWTF
MO0086126
3/23/2001.
3/22/2006
Fenton WWTF
M00025151
12/30/2005
Rev. 1/27/2006
12/29/2010
Lemay WWTF
MO00100978
10/29/2004
10/29/2009
Lower Meramec
WWTF
MO0004391
12/30/2005
Rev. 3/31/2006
12/29/2010
Missouri River
WWTF
MO0010362
1/26/2007
1/25/2012
Grand Glaize WWTF
MO0127949
2/28/2007
2/27/2012
New Lower Meramec
WWTF
Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District
Second Amended Findings of Violation and Order for Compliance
Page 3ofl0
8. Within the separate sanitary sewer system, MSD has more than 300 constructed sanitary
sewer overflows ("SSOs") which are not authorized by NPDES permits. Attachment A
9. Discharges from these constructed SSOs, when activated, are not reported to either
MDNR or the EPA.
10. Discharges from these:constructed SSOs contain untreated sewage which discharges to
urban streams, including Coldwater Creek, Deer Creek, River Des Peres, Creve Coeur
Creek, Grand Glaize Creek, Fee Fee Creek, Maline Creek, Watkins Creek, Marfigney
Creek, Mattese Creek, Gravois Creek, and Mackenzie Creek.
11. Since 1999, MSD has installed flow meters at several of the constructed SSOs. MSD
operated these meters for periods ranging from five to nine months at each SSO, metering
approximately eight constructed SSO locations per year. Table 2 below lists the number
of constructed SSOs by receiving stream and the number of metered sites per discrete
receiving stream.
TABLE 2: Number of Existing, Constructed SSOs by Receiving Stream
Receiving
Existing
Metered
Receiving
Existing
Metered
Stream
Stream
Maline Creek
37
12
Hampton
Creek
2
Coldwater
Creek
36
4
Meramec
Bottom
2
2
River Des
Peres
35
1
Meramec
River
2
Deer Creek
32
6
Musick Creek
2
Gravois
Creek
30
Sappington
Creek
2
Fee Fee ,
Creek
17
8
St. George
Creek
2
Black Creek
14
Sugar Creek
2
Creve Coeur
Creek
14
2
Baden Creek
1
Two Mile
Creek
14
1
Benbush
Creek
1
Mattese
Creek
9
Fenton Creek
1
1
Mississippi
River
9
Gingras
Creek
1
Fishpot Creek
8
Mackenzie
Creek
1
Grand Glaize
Creek
6
1
Mehlville
Creek
1
Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District
Second Amended Findings of Violation and Order for Compliance
Page 4 of 10
Watkins
Creek
6
1
Missouri
River
1
Martigney
Creek
4
Mulberry
Creek
1
Shady Grove
Creek
4
Rockhill
Creek
1
Fountain
Creek
3
Sinkhole
Creek
1
Caulks Creek
2
1
Yarnell Creek
1
TOTAL
305
26
12. Based on data provided by MSD Operations Department in a file titled CSO and SSO
Inspections.rtf, which was submitted to EPA on December 16, 2006, MSD conducts
weekly inspections at all existing constructed SSOs. However, MSD indicates they do not
track any discharge data collected during these routine cleaning inspections. MSD does
not have a program in place to identify the activation of each constructed SSO location
nor report occurrences to MDNR or EPA. However, MSD has conducted overflow
monitoring for 40 constructed SSOs and provided that data to EPA during the February
2006 site visit. Analysis of the MSD flow metering data for these 40 metered,
constructed SSOs indicates that nearly 21 million gallons of sewage was discharged
during the period of review. While direct evidence does not exist, an extrapolation of the
data from the 40 metered sites to all 300 plus sites shows that annually, upwards of an
estimated 226 million gallons of untreated sewage are being discharged into receiving
waters from an estimated 2,772 discharge events.
13. The majority of more than 300 constructed SSOs are located in residential
neighborhoods, public parks and other publicly accessible locations; there are no
warning signs to alert the public to avoid these areas and not play, wade, swim or fish in
waters contaminated with untreated sewage.
14. These SSOs, when activated, contain untreated sewage that carries bacteria, viruses,
protozoa (parasitic organisms), helminthes (intestinal worms) and boroughs (inhaled
molds and fungi). People exposed to these microbial pathogens are at risk for a variety of
associated diseases such as gastroenteritis, hepatitis, salmonellosis, shigellosis, infection
caused by E. coli, giardiasis, amoebic dysentery, skin rashes, "pink eye", etc. People can
be exposed through direct contact in areas of public access, such as lawns, streets, waters
used for recreation, or in homes or businesses. MSD's separate sanitary sewage
collection system includes 300 plus constructed outfalls that when operating constitute
illegal discharges directly to urban streams. Due to their inclination to play in or around
creeks, children are especially at risk for illnesses associated with untreated sewage due
to increased exposure. Children are more likely to ingest contaminated water
(accidentally and on purpose). In general, children are more susceptible to disease,
including those caused by untreated sewage.
Metropolitan St Louis Sewer District
Second Amended Findings of Violation and Order for Compliance
Page 5of10
15. Part C of MSD's NPDES Permits, Special Conditions, requires:
2. All outfalls must be clearly marked in the field
16. Part 1 — General Conditions, Section B Management Requirements requires:
5. Bypassing
a. Any bypass or shut down of a wastewater treatment facility and tributary
sewer system or any part of such a facility and sewer system that results in
a violation of permit limits or conditions is prohibited except:
(i) where unavoidable to prevent loss of life, personal injury, or
severe property damages; and
(ii) where unavoidable excessive storm drainage or runoff would
catastrophically damage any facilities or processes necessary
for compliance with the effluent limitations and conditions of
this permit;
(iii) where maintenance is necessary to ensure efficient operation
and alternative measures have been taken to maintain effluent
quality during the period of maintenance.
b. The permittee shall notify MDNR in writing of all bypasses or shut down
that result in a violation of permit limits or conditions. This section does
not excuse any person from liability, unless such relief is otherwise
provided by the statute.
17. Discharges from constructed SSOs as described in the above paragraphs are not peiinitted
in compliance with § 301(a) and § 402 of the CWA, 33 U.S.C. § 1311(a) and § 1342.
18. Constructed SSOs in MSD's service area are not clearly marked in the field.
19. Failures to clearly rnark all outfalls are violations of § 301 and § 402 of the CWA, 33
U.S.C. § 1311(a) and § 1342.
20. Failures to report bypasses from constructed SSOs are violations of § 301(a) and § 402 of
the CWA, U.S.C. § 1311(a) and § 1342.
21. Based on the Findings set forth above, and pursuant to Section 309(a)(3) of the CWA, 33
U.S.C. § 1319(a)(3), EPA hereby ORDERS MSD to meet the requirements set forth
hereafter in this Second Amended Order.
III. Second Amended Order for Compliance
22. MSD shall provide notice to Martha R. Steincarnp of MSD's intent to comply with this
Second Amended Order within 24 hours of receipt.
Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District
Second Amended Findings of Violation and Order for Compliance
Page6of10
23. MSD shall post signs as depicted in Attachment B to this Second Amended Order. A
schedule for installing these signs follows in Paragraph 24. The sign must be posted on
all streams, creeks, drainage ditches, and swales receiving SSO discharges. Postings
must be at all surface discharge locations and within one hundred (100) feet downstream
of all discharge locations. Signs must be posted at approximately one hundred (100) yard
intervals at public access points located within two miles downstream from the discharge.
Signs must be placed on both sides of the stream: and must be placed so as to be visible to
the public from both banks. The signs must be visible to the public approaching the
stream from the land. Any parks, golf courses or other recreation areas within the posting
area must have signs prominently displayed. Inspections of constructed SSO locations
must be perfouurred at least monthly to ensure that each sign is in place, unobstructed, and
in good condition. All missing, damaged and obstructed signs must be corrected within
twenty-four hours of discovery. The signs must be a minimum of 18" by 24". Inspection
of all downstream signs shall be at least three times during the recreation season in
March, June and September. A copy of the sign must be included annually (near the
beginning of the recreation season) in customer bill inserts with an explanation of why
the signs have been installed.
24. The sign depicted in Attachment B shall be obtained by MSD and deployed as outlined in
Paragraph 23 at all surface discharge locations, within five (5) weeks from the date of
signing of this Second Amended Order.
The notice to customers required in Paragraph 23, shall be forwarded by MSD to all its
customers by end July 2008.
Additionally, MSD shall post a notice on their website within thirty (30) days of the
. signing of this Second Amended Order, advising that EPA has ordered MSD to deploy
these signs. The sign shall be displayed with this notice: This notice shall include a
description of where each sign will be installed in relation to the constructed SSO; why
the sign is being installed and the phone number anyone observing a discharge can call to
report it.
25. MSD shall provide notice of all known discharges from constructed SSOs to EPA and
MDNR as required by Part 1- General Conditions B Management Requirements on a
quarterly basis, beginning in August 2007, using the form in Appendix C of MSD's
March 15, 2007 submission. In addition, MSD shall amend its current quarterly reporting
process to include additional information. As denoted below, some of the additional
information is required only once while some is required to be submitted with every
quarterly report.
Submit the following information in the next quarterly report:
i. A summary report from March 1....throu.gh April 30, 2007, as this data has not
been provided to EPA.
ii. In order to ensure the accuracy and reliability of MSD's past and future
quarterly reports, provide the raw activation data along with any qualifiers for
E' E
Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District
Second Amended Findings of Violation and Order for Compliance
Page 7 of 10
the period August 1 through October 27, 2007. The raw data shall be
provided in electronic format (e.g. Microsoft Excel spreadsheet). MSD shall
ensure that the raw data is provided in a format that will allow EPA to
evaluate MSD's interpretation of raw data resulting in the preparation of
quarterly reports. If needed, provide written explanations or instructions for
interpreting the raw data.
iii. A comprehensive list or tables that clearly denotes the monitoring device
installed (e.g. level sensor, Tideflex and data recorder) for each constructed
SSO location. If no monitoring device is currently installed, present the
anticipated date of installation.
iv. Clarification regarding how the recurring inspections of constructed SSOs are
used to ensure the proper functionality of the activation monitors to prevent
physical defects, debris, or equipment malfunction from compromising the
data collection efforts. Also, clarification as to whether MSD inspects each
constructed SSO on a weekly or monthly basis and the purpose of the
recurring inspections.
Submit the following information in all future quarterly reports:
i. Provide a narrative statement that identifies all overflow events that MSD
considered invalid. For each invalidated event, provide the raw data for the
event and the rationale as to why the event was invalidated.
ii. Amend the reporting schedule for all future reports to follow the quarterly
schedule identified in MSD's December 22, 2006 response. All future
reporting will be done on a quarterly basis for the periods ending June 30,
September 30, December 31, and March 31 with reports submitted within 45
days of the end of the quarter.
26. This Second Amended Order is an interim measure to address a serious problem_
27. This Second Amended Order does not constitute a waiver or a modification of any
requirements of the CWA, 33 U.S.C. § 1251 et seq., all of which remain in full force and
effect. The EPA retains the right to seek any and all remedies available under Section
309(b), (c), (d) or (g) of the Act, 33 U.S.C. § 1319(b), (c), (d) or (g), for any violation
cited in this Amended Order. Issuance of this Second Amended Order shall not be
deemed an election by EPA to forgo any civil or criminal action to seek penalties, fines,
or other appropriate relief under the Act for any violation whatsoever.
IV. General Provisions
28. MSD's compliance with this Second Amended Order does not constitute compliance
with the provisions of the .CWA, 33 U.S.C. § _ 1251 et seq., or with MSD's NPDES
permits. MSD shall remain solely responsible for compliance with the terms of the
Clean Water Act and this Second Amended Order. Issuance of this Second Amended
Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District
Second Amended Findings of Violation and Order for Compliance
Page 8 of 10
Order shall not be deemed an election by EPA to forego any civil or criminal action to
seek penalties, fines or other appropriate relief under the Act, including criminal
punishment as provided in Section 309 of the Act, 33 U.S.C. § 1319.
V. Access and Requests for Information
29. Nothing in this Second Amended Order shall limit EPA's right to obtain access to,
and/or to inspect Respondent's facilities, and/or to request additional information from
Respondent, pursuant to the authority of Section 308 of the CWA, 33 U.S.C. § 1318
and/or any other authority.
VI. Severability
30. If any provision or authority of this Second Amended Order, or the application of this
Second Amended Order to Respondent, is held by federal judicial authority to be invalid,
the application to Respondent of the remainder of this Second Amended Order shall
remain in full force and effect and shall not be affected by such a holding.
VII. Effective Date
31. The tennis of this Second Amended Order shall be effective and enforceable against
Respondent upon its receipt of an executed copy of the Second Amended Order.
VIII. Termination
32. This Second Amended Order shall remain in effect until a written notice ofterinination is
issued by an authorized representative of the. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Such notice shall not be given until all of the requirements of this Second Amended
Order have been met.
Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District
Second Amended Findings of Violation and Order for Compliance
Page 9 of 10
FOR THE UNTED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
Issued this 1 day of j ( , 2008.
William A. Spratlin
Director
Water, Wetlands and Pesticides Division
Qi
MarthaR. Steincamp
Attorney
Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District
Second Amended Findings of Violation and Order for Compliance
Page 10of10
CERTIFICTE OF SERVICE
I certify that on the date noted below I sent a copy of the foregoing Second Amended
Findings of Violation and Order for Compliance by first class certified mail, return receipt
requested to:
Jeffrey Thee,: Ian
Executive Director
Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District
2350 Market Street
St. Louis, Missouri63103-2555
Randy Hayman, Esq.
General Counsel
Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District
2350 Market Street
St. Louis, Missouri 63103-2555
Susan Myers, Esq.
Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District
2350 Market Street
St. Louis, Missouri 63103-2555
Terry Satterlee, Esq.
Shook Hardy & Bacon, LLP
2555 Grand Blvd.
Kansas City, Missouri 64108-2613
Kevin Mohammadi
Chief, Water Pollution Compliance and Enforcement Section
Missouri Department of Natural Resources
P.O. Box 176
Jefferson City, Missouri 65102
Da e
Legend
• Constructed SSO Bypass
WWTP_5ervic®Area
Bissell
Coldwater Creek
Lower Meramec
M€ssouri River
I 1
1
River Des Peres
Strearns
Rivers
Attachment A
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s'M
• Possible Sewage Overflow
Exposure to Water May Cause Illness
PLEASE REPORT FOUL ODORS, UNUSUAL DISCOLORATION, -
OR
FLOW FROM OUTFALL DURING DRY WEATHER.
I C•AI-4111
St. Louis
Metropolitan
Sewer District
(314) 768-6260
Sign #
Attachment B
For detailed information visit: www.stImsd.com