A closure letter from the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) dated December 21, 2017 and addressed to Blytheville Mayor James Sanders states that the requirements of Consent Administrative Order (CAO) LIS 16-031 and Amendment LIS 16-031-001 have been met by the city and is hereby closed. The CAO and its amendment referenced violations by the city in the disposal of improperly treated wastewater that was routinely released into an unnamed ditch while having elevated levels of impurities including ammonia, copper and fecal coliform bacteria.
The original CAO was an agreement between the ADEQ and the City of Blytheville regarding the South Water Treatment Facility located on NCR 647 (Mississippi Avenue). It states that the city had violated the Arkansas Water and Air Pollution Control Act and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act and that a review showed that from August 1, 2012 to January 31, 2016, the city had self-reported “nine (9) violations of the permitted effluent discharge limits details in Part I, Section A of the Permit…[The city] reported seven (7) violations for Ammonia Nitrogen, and one (1) violation for Fecal Coliform Bacteria, and one (1) violation for Total Recoverable Copper.”
It further states that the ADEQ notified the city of the violations on January 31, 2012, April 18, 2012 and on April 14, 2014.
The original CAO adds that on November 24, 2014, the city submitted an “inadequate Corrective Action Plan (CAP) addressing the effluent violations. On April 29, 2015, the Department (ADEQ) received an updated CAP.”
The original CAO also ordered that the city shall achieve compliance no later than June 30, 2016. They then levied a $2,400 fine against the city.
On April 11, 2016 Sanders told the Blytheville Airport and Utilities Committee that the fine was originally going to be $4,800 but “has been reduced to $2,400 as a result of improvements and corrections made since being fined.”
He also mentioned another fine at the West Treatment Facility was originally assessed at $6,400 but later reduced to $3,200.
An amended CAO was later issued to the city that added even more infractions. The amended CAO said, “The Department (ADEQ) conducted a review of certified Discharge Monitoring Reports (DMRs) submitted by Respondent (the city) in according with the Permit. The review reveled that Respondent reported the following violations of the permitted effluent discharge limits details in Part I, Section A of the Permit from February 1, 2016 through August 31, 2017: Five (5) violations for Ammonia Nitrogen.”
As a result, on November 21, 2017, the city council passed Resolution 2017:38 to accept the amended CAO language (admitting further violations after the first CAO was issued) and to agree in principle to comply with it.
thenry@blythevillecourier.com