The city of Chattanooga is apparently close to settling an October 2010 Federal Court lawsuit brought by the Tennessee Clean Water Network regarding periodic sewer overflows.
City Attorney Mike McMahan is due to meet privately with the City Council on the afternoon of April 10 regarding a consent decree in the case.
The two sides notified Judge Curtis Collier in January that substantial progress was being made toward a settlement and that the case would remain in abeyance until the negotiations could be completed.
The suit charges that the city had violated its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit for the Moccasin Bend Wastewater Treatment Plant and Combined Sewer System by "unpermitted discharges by its West and East Bank Outfalls; unpermitted Sanitary Sewer Overflows; exceedances of the maximum E.
coli limit; and monitoring and reporting violations."
The suit alleges that from January 2006 – June 2010, the cty illegally discharged 319 million gallons of untreated sewage. Untreated sewage can contain viruses, pathogens and toxic chemicals that can harm human and aquatic health, the suit says.
When the suit was filed, Renée Victoria Hoyos, executive director of TCWN, said, "We are confident that we can work with the city to achieve a solution that will clean up these sewer overflows. We have worked well with other cities on similar issues and are looking forward to assisting the city in any way we can. To be fair, if the state had stepped in years ago and required that the city fix this problem, we would not be here today."
The Tennessee Clean Water Network has been very critical of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation’s enforcement program, calling it "woeful."
Ms. Hoyos said, “In 2008, TDEC completed just 204 enforcement actions against polluters statewide. So far in 2010, the number of enforcement actions has dropped to 135 statewide. Without robust enforcement, people like the residents of Chattanooga have to live with pollution that can harm their health. While we understand that enforcement may be unpopular in some circles, putting communities at risk for waterborne disease is no option. The Clean Water Act gives citizens the right to sue and that is what we have had to do. These violations have been polluting Chattanooga’s streams and rivers for many years and they need to stop.”
TCWN in 2004 filed suit against the Knoxville Utility Board. That case was settled after the Environmental Protection Agency intervened, which resulted in a consent order. TCWN officials said, "KUB has worked hard to comply with the order and has dramatically reduced their sanitary sewer overflows."
Chattanooga has many older "combined" sewers that carry rainwater as well as sewage. These lines can get overwhelmed in a heavy downpour and overflow. Officials have said there would be a huge cost to eliminate the city's network of combined sewers.