Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority Caught Dumping Sludge For Years
A major American drinking water and wastewater utility has been caught for years of violating central federal regulations.
“The Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority [PWSA] is pleading guilty for violating the Clean Water Act, accused of dumping sludge into the Allegheny River and lying about it,” CBS Pittsburgh reported. “Federal prosecutors accuse the PWSA’s Aspinwall Drinking Water Treatment Plant of discharging sludge generated during the drinking water treatment process into the Allegheny from 2010 to 2017.”
Federal prosecutors have said that the discharges caused discolored water plumes hundreds of feet long as well as islands of buildup in the source water. PWSA is also pleading guilty to filing false reports on the amounts of sludge it was sending to a local waste treatment facility.
The Clean Water Act is a federal law governing water pollution, maintained by the U.S. EPA to control pollution and set wastewater standards for the industry. Violations can come with significant penalties.
“Under a plea agreement, PWSA agreed to establish a $500,000 fund to bring the plant in compliance and further agreed not to raise rates to come up with that half-million,” per CBS.
The violations have been connected to Glenn Lijewski, a 69-year-old maintenance superintendent for PWSA who was indicted and charged with one count of conspiracy. Leadership at PWSA projected confidence that, moving forward, violations like these will not recur.
“The violations are ‘an unfortunate product of decades of disinvestment in PWSA’s water system and disinvestment in the people who were charged with its operations,’ said Will Pickering, CEO of the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority,” according to WTAE. “‘Under new leadership, PWSA has the financial resources to appropriately invest in the water treatment plant and is working with the U.S. EPA to ensure that the authority and its employees comply with all environmental laws.’ Pickering said.”
Though PWSA got away with violating foundational water quality laws for years, there appears to be reason for optimism that the utility will adhere to the rules going forward.
To read more about the regulations that govern drinking water and wastewater treatment utilities, visit Water Online’s Regulations And Legislation Solutions Center.