LENEXA, KS, May 21, 2015 -- The city of Granby, Mo., has agreed to an administrative civil settlement with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that requires the city to take a series of actions by July 2018 to correct several Clean Water Act (CWA) violations related to the operation of its wastewater treatment plat (WWTP).
According to an administrative order for compliance on consent, filed May 13 in Lenexa, Kan., EPA staff performed a compliance sampling inspection of the WWTP from Sept. 29 through Oct. 2, 2014. That inspection, along with subsequent sample collection and analysis, investigation and reviews of records, revealed a series of violations of the CWA as well as the city's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit.
Among the violations noted by EPA, the inspection found that Granby had unauthorized discharges from its system, failed to properly operate and maintain its facilities, allowed the unpermitted bypass of more than a half-million gallons of untreated wastewater to a receiving stream, and failed to comply with effluent limitations for ammonia and total suspended solids.
Information obtained during the inspection and review of the city's sludge management records indicate that approximately 90 dry tons of activated sludge was discharged to the stream, an unnamed tributary of Shoal Creek, over the last three years.
As part of its settlement with EPA, Granby must submit a compliance plan and schedule to the Agency no later than Oct. 31, 2015, outlining the actions it will take to be in compliance with its NPDES permit and the CWA, and the timelines for completing those actions. The city must also provide EPA with copies, on a quarterly basis, of the monthly monitoring reports that it is required to submit to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.
Finally, by no later than July 1, 2018, the city must submit certification to EPA that it has completed all corrective actions necessary to comply with its NPDES permit. Failure to comply with terms of the agreement could result in additional civil enforcement action.
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