The city of Galax, VA, has agreed to a complete a two-year project to reduce water pollution in Chestnut Creek as part of a settlement in a federal-state Clean Water Act lawsuit alleging unlawful sewage discharges dating back to the 1980s, and a 1997 chemical release that resulted in a significant fish kill, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Justice and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) announced.
In a proposed settlement in federal court in Roanoke, VA, the city has agreed to pay a $50,000 penalty and complete equipment upgrades, and comply with operation and maintenance standards, to avoid raw sewage overflows and other unauthorized discharges. While the case was pending, the city completed a $1.2 million repair and overhaul of its wastewater collection system, including renovations of three pump stations.
The November 21, 2001 complaint, filed by the Justice Department on behalf of EPA, cited the city for unlawful discharges of raw sewage into Chestnut Creek and Oglesby Branch, two tributaries of the New River. The complaint also alleged that a pipe failure at the drinking water treatment plant in October 1997 resulted in the unlawful discharge of 2,400 gallons of polyaluminum chloride into Chestnut Creek, which killed more than 18,000 fish in a 9.5-mile stretch of the waterway. The plant uses polyaluminum chloride during the drinking water treatment process to help remove solids from the drinking water.
