Wastewater Modernization Will Cost Louisiana City $50 Million
To settle Clean Water Act violations, the city of New Iberia, Louisiana has agreed to construct a new $30 million sewage treatment plant. In addition, the city will perform an extensive characterization, evaluation, and rehabilitation of the city’s collection system designed to eliminate sewage overflows, estimated to cost up to $20 million over the next 10 years.
The United States and the State of Louisiana filed a civil complaint against the city for violations under the Clean Water Act in June 2004. The consent decree, lodged today in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana in Lafayette, represents the combined efforts of the United States and the state of Louisiana.
Under the proposed consent decree, the city of 32,500 people is building a new wastewater treatment plant, which will have substantially greater hydraulic capacity and replace the antiquated Admiral Doyle treatment plant.
The city has agreed to expedite the elimination of certain high priority sewer overflows from the system. In addition, it will share in the cost associated with the construction, operation and maintenance of an equalization basin for the Tete Bayou sewage treatment plant.
The consent decree also requires the city to adopt a plan for identifying and eliminating illegal storm water connections on private property to the publicly owned or operated collection system.
The city must implement a maintenance program for the collection system to provide for the proper operation and maintenance of equipment; and develop and implement an emergency response plan to adequately protect the health and welfare of persons in the event of any sanitary sewer overflows.
The city will pay a civil penalty of $235,000 for past effluent and sewer overflow violations, one half of which will be paid to the United States and half of which will be paid to the state.
In the past, the United States has reached similar agreements with numerous municipal entities across the country including New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Birmingham, Atlanta, Knoxville, Miami, Toledo, Cincinnati, Baltimore, and Los Angeles.