Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority, Clean Water Act Violations, Pennsylvania 2024

The Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority, a water and sewer utility that serves hundreds of miles of sewer pipes and associated treatment plants in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, has been hit with Clean Water Act violations. The U.S. and Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) filed a civil lawsuit against the Authority alleging violations of the federal Clean Water Act and Pennsylvania Clean Streams Law.

The violations primarily consist of sanitary sewer overflows – typically in the form of wastewater overflowing from manholes – and operation and maintenance violations under its state-issued permits. Sanitary sewer overflows constitute unauthorized discharges of pollutants into waterways, posing a substantial risk to public health and the environment.

The Authority will pay a $450,000 penalty as part of a proposed consent decree that would resolve the lawsuit subject to the district court’s approval. The Authority will also be obligated to devote substantial resources to evaluate and upgrade its sewer systems as part of the decree.

The Authority’s service areas have historically suffered from sanitary sewer overflows, including over 100 that have occurred in Plumstead Township since 2014. Sanitary sewer overflows occur for a variety of reasons, including severe weather, improper system design, equipment failures, poor management, improper operation and maintenance and vandalism.

The main pollutants in raw sewage from overflows are bacteria, pathogens, nutrients, untreated industrial wastes, toxic pollutants, such as oil, pesticides, wastewater solids and debris. Along with the financial penalty, the Authority has agreed to evaluate its collection system and adopt extensive measures to ensure compliance with the federal and state requirements.

The consent decree will mean less sewage in streets, basements, and waterways to improve the lives of citizens in Bucks County, according to U.S. Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The settlement will result in a cleaner, safer Delaware River, as stated by Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.

The Authority owns and operates hundreds of miles of sewer pipes and associated treatment plants and wastewater collection and conveyance systems, largely situated in Bucks County. The Authority will be required to take extensive measures to improve its sewer systems, including monitoring water flow, modelling the collection system, conducting inflow and infiltration evaluations, identifying and remedying hydraulic capacity limitations, addressing illegal sewer connections, and improving its overall operation and maintenance program.

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