Memphis penalized for sewer spills

State assesses nearly $513,000 penalty over incident that affected local streams, lakes

Nearly a year to the day after ruptures in the Memphis wastewater system began spewing millions of gallons of raw sewage into local streams and lakes, Tennessee environmental regulators issued an order Thursday assessing at least $512,857 in penalties and damages against the city.

The order signed by Department of Environment and Conservation Commissioner Robert Martineau cited the ruptures of a 96-inch interceptor, a 60inch pipe and a 42-inch line that occurred between March 31 and April 18, 2016, after heavy rain washed out the stream banks in which the pipes were buried.

State officials estimate that more than 350 million gallons of untreated wastewater poured into Cypress Creek and McKellar Lake in Southwest Memphis, killing at least 72,000 fish. The rupture of the 42-inch pipe along the Loosahatchie River, along the city’s northern edge, spewed at least 7.5 million gallons of raw sewage before crews finished a bypass line that ended the leak.

The order calls for Memphis to pay $359,855.98 into a state natural resource damages fund and ante up a civil penalty of at least $49,920 and more if it fails to comply with environmental restoration work prescribed by the department. In addition the city must pay some $61,929 in damages to TDEC and $41,153 to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, which investigated the fish kill.

The terms of the assessment could change. The order isn’t final until 30 days after its issuance, and the city can file an appeal that would be heard by an administrative law judge. TDEC spokesman Eric Ward said city officials have expressed interest in working with the TDEC toward a consent agreement.

“In addition to ensuring the city can prevent an event like this from happening again, we would prefer to work with the city to reinvest the penalty money from this incident back into Memphis for future projects designed to protect its environment and the health of its citizens,” Ward said in a statement emailed to The Commercial Appeal.

Memphis Public Works Director Robert Knecht said city officials just received the order and have not decided on their response. He said, however, that any penalties, plus the nearly $20 million spent responding to the ruptures and repairing the system, will come from the city’s sewer fund, not the general fund.

Scott Banbury, conservation programs coordinator for the Sierra Club’s Tennessee chapter, said he hopes an agreement is reached under which the city would spend the penalty money upgrading its system.

Reach Tom Charlier by email at thomas.charlier@commercialappeal.com, by phone at (901) 529-2572, or on Twitter at @thomasrcharlier.