KANSAS CITY, KS, Aug. 17, 2009 -- The City of Maryville, Mo., has agreed to pay a civil penalty valued at $33,000, including a cash payment of $20,400 to the United States and the installation of a new energy-efficient water pump at the city's sewage treatment plant, to settle allegations that it failed to properly operate its industrial wastewater pretreatment program.
According to a civil complaint and consent agreement filed August 12, 2009, in Kansas City, Kan., EPA Region 7 determined that the city failed to conduct required annual inspections of seven local industries, identified as "significant industrial users" of the city's wastewater treatment system, during 2005 and 2006. Those users included LMP Steel and Wire, Federal-Mogul Corporation, Deluxe Printing, Eveready/Energizer Battery Company, Kawasaki Motors Manufacturing Company, Laclede Chain Manufacturing Company and St. Francis Hospital.
Although EPA identified violations of Maryville's pretreatment program by the seven significant industrial users, those incidents do not appear to have caused or contributed to any violations of the city's effluent limits.
"This settlement is an important step in protecting water quality in northwest Missouri," said William Spratlin, director of EPA Region 7's Water, Wetlands and Pesticides Division. "Cities implementing the pretreatment program must realize their important role in keeping toxic pollutants out of our streams and rivers."
The industrial pretreatment program provides pretreatment standards that are designed to control pollutants from industrial users at the source, before they reach the city's sewage treatment plant. Without proper implementation of the pretreatment program, these pollutants have the potential to pass through the city's plant and into receiving streams without adequate treatment. Such pollutants may also interfere with the effectiveness of the sewage treatment plant and contaminate the plant's sewage sludge.
Besides paying the $20,400 civil penalty to the United States, Maryville has also agreed to perform a supplemental environmental project, involving the installation of a new water pump at its treatment plant. The new centrifugal pump with variable frequency drives should result in significant improvements to energy efficiency for the city. Unlike the pump that it will replace, the new pump is designed to operate at variable speeds and shut down when not in use. The increased energy efficiency will reduce the city's energy consumption and associated generation of greenhouse gases.
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