Wastewater treatment changes may be put off

As published in the Record Journal, Wednesday October 24, 2012

By Andrew Ragali
Record-Journal staff
aragali@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2224

WALLINGFORD — After months of negotiating with the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, a coalition of municipalities that includes Southington, Wallingford and Meriden may not have to make expensive changes — an average of $56 million — to the facilities that handle their discharged water for at least five years.

The state has previously indicated that the phosphorus limits in water released from wastewater treatment plants would need to be decreased to 0.2 parts phosphorus per million. Relief from that requirement may be on the way, Southington Town Councilor Lou Martocchio said during Monday night’s council meeting, as the coalition is nearing an agreement that would provide a five-year permit from the DEEP allowing for phosphorus limits to remain at 0.7 parts per million, a limit set in 2008.

With the permit, Martocchio said, municipalities may see “literally in the millions of dollars in savings.”

Southington, Meriden and Wallingford have all said they would have to spend an average of $56 million in capital improvements and more than $2 million in annual operating costs to reach the new phosphorus limit of 0.2 parts per million.

“Six months ago, I thought this would never happen,” Martocchio said.

With nothing set in stone, leaders in Meriden, Wallingford and Southington are cautiously excited.

“There have been some good signs recently,” Wallingford Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr. said Tuesday.

He’s not convinced just yet though, saying, “We haven’t seen any language that at this point would confirm a breakthrough.”

“If you still have to commit to a process of removal within five or nine years, that would still be a concern to us,” he said.

Dickinson wants assurance he won’t have to upgrade the town’s treatment plant for phosphorus in the future, but Martocchio said that won’t be necessary after more testing is conducted to determine the effects of the nutrient on plant and animal life in the Quinnipiac River.

“The position DEEP took was at best arbitrary,” Martocchio said Monday night. “The standard or threshold won’t stay at the level it is now ... the threshold requirements are based on now will go higher.”

By possibly holding off on enforcing new limits for at least five years for further research, Meriden City Manager Lawrence J. Kendzior said DEEP is “doing what we had asked of them initially.”

“We’re encouraged by the department’s latest position,” Kendzior said.

Southington Town Manager Garry Brumback credited the DEEP for “stepping up to the plate” and considering a five year permit. The part that is still up in the air, he said, is further scientific research.

“We’ve got to have some scientific evaluation method as to whether or not the draconian and expensive steps we would have to take to get phosphorus levels down to 0.2 parts per million are necessary,” Brumback said.

Unlike Dickinson, Brumback isn’t worried about a commitment to upgrade the town’s treatment plant after the permit expires.

“We would have the ability to protest it, and we’re hoping if we get to that point, the handwriting will already be on the wall,” he said.

DEEP spokesman Dennis Schain said that the state agency understands the challenges faced by municipalities in trying to adhere to phosphorus limits handed down by the Environmental Protection Agency, a federal entity.

“We’re working with them trying to find new approaches that work for municipalities, work for us and the EPA, and serve to protect the environment,” Schain said.

He couldn’t comment further on negotiations because they are ongoing.

Cheshire was once part of the coalition, which also includes Danbury and Waterbury, but dropped out in April because it received $6.9 million in grant money from the Clean Water Fund to upgrade its wastewater treatment plant — a $31.3 million project.

“We’re happy with the way we went,” Milone said. “We couldn’t walk away from $7million in grants.”

He credited the entire coalition, especially Brumback, for its work in fighting new limits, but said “I’m not completely confident that there will be an immediate resolution.”

Brumback said that the permit, if issued, would come by the end of the calendar year.

Milone said that he felt that the best that could be achieved is a delay, and that the town would still have to go forward with upgrades five years from now. To partner the phosphorus upgrade with the Cheshire treatment plant’s overhaul saves money, Milone said, and it would be pointless to do the project separately.

“I’ve learned one thing,” Milone said. “It ain’t over till it’s over. Until the permit is signed, you can’t rely on it.”

DEEP flexible on phosphorus rules

As published in the Record Journal Wednesday April 25, 2012

By Jesse Buchanan
Record-Journal staff
jbuchanan@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2230

Officials say a coalition of cities and towns facing new state phosphorus regulations has gained some ground in their fight to change phosphorus limits proposed by the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

Southington Town Manager Garry Brumback said DEEP has agreed to town-requested phosphorus limits for seven to nine years, although the department wants municipalities to move to more aggressive limits after that time. He said a lobbying firm hired by the towns and work with state legislators have been effective in arguing the case for easing phosphorus limits.

“DEEP is willing to work with us on that,” Brumback said. “The coalition has had its value. Our legislative delegation has had its value.”

DEEP spokesman Dennis Schain said the department was working with municipalities and understood the “need to balance environmental objectives with the financial constraints facing all levels of government.”

Southington, Wallingford, Meriden and Danbury are some of the 45 towns in the state that will face restrictions on the amount of phosphorus that can be discharged from wastewater treatment plants into rivers. Municipal officials say the limits are too stringent, too expensive and haven’t been shown to be necessary.

DEEP officials said the effort to remove phosphorus, which can cause algae blooms and depletion of oxygen in the water when present in excessive amounts, is being led by the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

Schain said the department is proposing to allow Southington and Wallingford seven years after the issue of the upcoming wastewater treatment plant permit to achieve 0.2 parts per million. Meriden would have nine years after the next wastewater treatment plant permit to achieve 0.1 parts per million. Brumback said Southington is now at 2.8 parts per million. Wallingford Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr. said that, while there has been some progress, the main issue of expensive upgrades to water treatment plants hasn’t been resolved. He said the 0.2 parts per million phosphorus limit which could be required by DEEP would cost Wallingford $60 million.

“I continue to have a concern about signing off on something with that kind of a price tag,” he said. “That’s a lot to commit to.”

Dickinson said the lobbying firm, Gara & Markowski Government Relations, of West Hartford, has been instrumental in getting the towns’ message to state officials. The firm was hired jointly by the towns at a cost of $25,000.

“I think that has been a very important piece of this to organize efforts,” he said.

Brumback said he’s hoping DEEP will allow towns to get to the 0.7 phosphorus limit — which would cost Southington $50,000 — and see if that improves water quality before mandating the 0.2 limit. He said the lower limit would cost the town $18 million.

Brumback said he’s concerned with the piecemeal approach to cleaning up the waterways taken by DEEP and the EPA. He said the town has spent money removing nitrogen and in doing so used phosphorus. The town is now faced with removing phosphorus, and the easiest way to do so is by using metal salts. Brumback said those metal salts are next on regulators’ lists of materials to be taken out of the water.

“There’s not an approach there that makes any sense,” Brumback said.

He said the towns are trying to set up a meeting with EPA Regional Administrator Curt Spalding to talk about what the agency wants.

Brumback said he wants a “science-based strategy that defines what our goals are for our waterways and what are economically feasible ways to achieve those goals.”

“We don’t know what the target is. We don’t even know what they’re contemplating,” Brumback said.

“Wastewater treatment standards have been constantly evolving since the 1960s,” Schain said. “We believe the phosphorus limits we’re talking about will continue to move us forward to achieve water quality standards outlined in the Clean Water Act, and that’s the objective.”