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March 11, 2008

Bristol to pay fine, take steps to fix sewer overflows

BRISTOL -- In a settlement with the federal Environmental Protection Agency, the town will pay a $75,000 fine, spend another $62,800 on a water quality project and take other steps to combat sewer overflow problems.

The agreement, announced in an EPA news release today, calls for Bristol to deal with overflows "that have resulted in the release of millions of gallons of untreated sewage into the environment over many years."

The settlement resulted from an EPA order that sought penalties for Clean Water Act violations, including in 2005 when "failure to maintain or replace critical aged pump equipment was found to cause the overflow of some four million gallons of untreated sewage to Bristol Harbor. The incident led to a 17-day shellfish bed closure."

The $62,800 is for doing a “supplemental environmental project” that the EPA said will better the water quality of storm water runoff at a town beach parking lot.

“This action brings us one step closer toward achieving our long-term goal of completely eliminating sanitary sewer overflows that contribute to water quality problems in Rhode Island’s treasured waterways,” Robert W. Varney, the EPA New England administrator, said in the statement. “We can no longer wait to invest in the pipes under our streets until we read about beach or shellfish bed closures in our communities.”

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

Posted by Mike McKinney  at 6:15 PM | Permalink

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