PENNSYLVANIA
A Pennsylvania water authority agreed to significantly reduce overflows of sewage into the Delaware River, which, authorities say, will improve the water quality of the river, Chester Creek and the Ridley Creek near Philadelphia, officials said Monday.
The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that the Delaware County Regional Water Quality Control Authority will spend as much as $200 million to set up an overflow plan that complies with the terms of the Clean Water Act, officials said.
County Regional Water Quality has 20 years to complete the necessary controls, officials said.
In addition, County Regional Water Quality must pay a $1.3 million penalty for prior violations, which will be split between the federal government and the state of Pennsylvania, a co-plaintiff in this case, according to authorities.
The settlement addresses longstanding problems with County Regional Water Quality sewer system, which when inundated with stormwater, discharges raw sewage, industrial waste, nitrogen, phosphorus and polluted stormwater into Chester Creek, Ridley Creek and the Delaware River.
Regional Water Quality discharges about 739 million gallons of sewage into the water, officials said.
“This important agreement will protect residents from sewers that discharge raw sewage and other contaminants into local waterways,” said Assistant Attorney General John C. Cruden for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “It is the latest in a series of settlements with municipalities across the country to address aging and inadequate sewer infrastructure, particularly in older communities where residents have had to deal with sewer overflows for generations. Agreements like this one are a victory for environmental justice.”
Here are the health hazards involving exposure to raw sewage, according to authorities:
- Exposure to raw sewage can cause such illnesses as mild gastroenteritis, causing stomach cramps and diarrhea, to life-threatening ailments such as cholera, dysentery, infectious hepatitis and severe gastroenteritis, federal officials said.
- Groups facing greater risks include children, the elderly, immune-compromised groups and pregnant women cause a range of illnesses from stomach cramps and diarrhea to life-threatening ailments such as cholera, dysentery, infectious hepatitis and severe gastroenteritis.
- Children, the elderly, people with weaker immune systems and pregnant women face greater risks to the health impacts of exposure to sewage, officials said.
County Regional Water Quality’s wastewater facilities serve about 500,000 people in the greater Philadelphia area, including many low-income communities, according to authorities.
Once fully implemented, the settlement will help reduce the direct exposure of low-income and minority populations in the service area to raw sewage.
County Regional Water Quality must also seek input from the public on the long-term control plan, including from Chester Creek and surrounding communities that have historically been overburdened by pollution, officials said.