MMSD fines Veolia Water for permit violations
Operator released too much waste after rains
The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District has imposed $168,270 in penalties against the private operator of the Jones Island sewage treatment plant for February violations of state pollution discharge limits, district officials said.
Errors by employees of Veolia Water Milwaukee caused excessive amounts of chlorine and suspended solids to be discharged from the Jones Island plant to Lake Michigan following heavy rains on Feb. 19 and 20, according to MMSD Executive Director Kevin Shafer.
“Veolia’s failure to properly train operators contributed to these operator errors,” Shafer said in a March 26 letter to Scott Royer, Veolia Water president and general manager.
MMSD’s investigation of the excessive discharges also found that two key Veolia staff did not have current operator certifications, Shafer said.
The two violations of state permit limits were the first since June 1997. No overflows of the district’s regional sewers were reported in the rainstorm.
“The investigation into the causes of the permit violations at Jones Island shows that proper operation of the plant would have avoided the violations,” the MMSD commission said in a statement.
“MMSD is ultimately responsible for the performance of the regional sewerage system and managing Veolia’s operating agreement to ensure top environmental performance,” the statement said in support of penalties imposed on Veolia Water.
Financial penalties include a fine of $85,133 for the two permit violations plus $2,000 to be withheld from a contract payment. An additional $81,137 will be withheld from the district’s February payment to Veolia under terms of its original contract that expired on Feb. 28.
Veolia Water will be required to update operating procedures at Jones Island and train all affected employees by April 1, as part of the penalties imposed Monday.
Veolia Water has operated the Jones Island and South Shore sewage treatment plants, regional sewers, deep tunnel and Milorganite sludge fertilizer factory since March 2008.
In June 2016, the MMSD commission agreed to extend the contract for another 10 years beginning March 1 of this year at a cost of at least $500 million.
Veolia Water Milwaukee’s parent company is Veolia North America, a division of Paris-based Veolia Environment.
In a statement, Veolia North America said Jones Island discharges have been in compliance with state permit limits and MMSD contract limits since Feb. 21.
Veolia is taking several corrective steps in response to the incident, “including a review of all wet weather event standard operating procedures, enhanced wet weather event training for all Veolia operations staff, and increased staffing during wet weather events,” the statement said.
Total suspended solids in treated wastewater include bits of clay, algae, decaying plants and animals, and sewage.
The volume of those particles is an indicator of wastewater quality because solids suspended in water absorb light and then the water warms. Less oxygen can be dissolved or stored in warm water than cold water and that reduces the amount of oxygen available to sustain fish and aquatic insects.
Extremely high turbidity of wastewater — due to suspended solids — that was discharged from the plant for an extended period of time in the wake of the rain storm should have been an indicator of poor water quality, Shafer said in the letter. But operators failed to respond “in a timely manner” to halt the problem, he said.
Chlorine is a disinfectant used at the end of the sewage treatment process to kill any remaining disease-causing bacteria and viruses. Sodium hypochlorite is added at a rate of up to 2 parts per million in treated wastewater.