Clean Water Act, Waste Treatment Facilities

PFAS/Clean Water Act Citizen Suit Enforcement: Coosa River Basin Initiative and Georgia Municipality Enter into Consent Decree

Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard,... on 8/15/2024

The Coosa River Basin Initiative (“Initiative”) and City of Calhoun, Georgia (“Calhoun”) entered into a Consent Decree (“CD”) addressing alleged violations of the Clean Water Act. See Civil Action No. 4:24-cv-00068-WMR. ...more

Wastewater Enforcement: Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment - Division of Environmental Quality and Non-Municipal Sewage...

Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard,... on 8/13/2024

The Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment – Division of Environmental Quality (“ADEQ”) and Faulkner County POID (“FC”) entered into a May 15 Consent Administrative Order (“CAO”) addressing violations of a Clean Water...more

California Environmental Law & Policy Update 7.26.24

Allen Matkins on 7/29/2024

An environmental advocacy organization on July 23 filed a lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles over the Port of L.A.'s stormwater treatment system. At issue is a 53-acre portion of the port on Terminal Island where...more

Wastewater Enforcement: Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment - Division of Environmental Quality and City of Mcrae Enter...

Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard,... on 7/11/2024

The Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment – Division of Environmental Quality (“DEQ”) and City of McRae, Arkansas entered into a June 4th Consent Administrative Order (“CAO”) addressing alleged violations of a Clean...more

Wastewater Enforcement: Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment - Division of Environmental Quality and Saline County...

Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard,... on 6/19/2024

The Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment – Division of Environmental Quality (“DEQ”) and Landers BCO, LLC (“Landers”) entered into a May 31st Consent Administrative Order (“CAO”) addressing alleged violations of a...more

Nitrogen/Phosphorus: EarthJustice Administrative Challenge to West Point Wastewater Treatment Plant (Washington) NPDES Permit...

Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard,... on 6/11/2024

EarthJustice and Puget Soundkeeper (“EarthJustice”) filed a May 28th Notice of Appeal (“Notice”) before the Washington Pollution Control Hearings Board challenging a Clean Water Act National Pollutant Discharge Elimination...more

Performance/Innovation in the SRF Creating Environmental Success Program: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Recognizes Flippin,...

Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard,... on 4/8/2024

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) issued an April 3rd news release recognizing Clean Water Act state revolving fund assistance recipients for exceptional projects. The Flippin, Arkansas Wastewater...more

Wastewater Enforcement: Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment - Division of Environmental Quality and Green County College...

Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard,... on 3/13/2024

The Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment - Division of Environmental Quality ("DEQ") and Crowleys Ridge College ("Crowleys Ridge") entered into a February 20th Consent Administrative Order ("CAO") addressing an...more

Chlorination/Clean Water Act: Amherst Massachusetts POTW: U.S. EPA Environmental Appeals Board Challenge to NPDES Permit

Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard,... on 11/30/2023

The Town of Amherst, Massachusetts (“Amherst”), filed a November 16th Request for Review before the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) Environmental Appeals Board (“EAB”) challenging a Clean Water Act...more

EPA's new Maui Functional Equivalence Guidance is guidance in name only as confusion continues to reign over the reach of the...

Mintz on 11/28/2023

Just before the Thanksgiving holiday EPA issued draft guidance regarding when a discharge of a “pollutant” to groundwater is the “functional equivalent” of a discharge to a Water of the United States requiring a NPDES permit...more

PFAS and the Clean Water Act: Considerations for Wastewater Treatment Plants

McGlinchey Stafford on 7/13/2023

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is rolling out a robust enforcement program aimed at wastewater treatment plants and other wastewater operations for potential contamination based on Section 301 of the Clean Water Act...more

Like it or not, what is and isn't a Water of the United States is clearer, but what is and isn't a Diligent Prosecution remains...

Mintz on 7/10/2023

According to a complaint filed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, the DeKalb County Wastewater Treatment Facility discharged untreated wastewater into the...more

Citizen Suit Action/Clean Water Act: U.S. District Court (Hawaii) Addresses Whether Ditch/Drain Constitutes Point Source

Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard,... on 6/20/2023

A United States District Court (District of Hawaii) (“Court”) in a June 14th Order addressed a definitional issue in a summary judgment motion in a Clean Water Act citizen suit action. See Na Kia i Kai et al. v. County of...more

Wastewater Enforcement: Mississippi Commission on Environmental Quality and Town of Wesson Enter into Agreed Order

Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard,... on 6/2/2023

The Mississippi Commission on Environmental Quality (“MCEQ”) and Town of Wesson, Mississippi (“Wesson”) entered into a May 5th Agreed Order (“AO”) addressing alleged violations of a Clean Water Act National Pollutant...more

Water Authority Dixon County/Trace Creek: Harpeth Conservancy Files Petition for Appeal of Tennessee Department of Environment and...

Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard,... on 3/21/2023

The Southern Environmental Law Center filed on behalf of Harpeth Conservancy (“Petitioner”) a March 9th Petition for Appeal of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (“TDEC”) (“Petition”) Commissioner...more

Wastewater Enforcement: Arkansas Department of Energy & Environment - Division of Environmental Quality and Cleveland County...

Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard,... on 2/3/2023

The Arkansas Department of Energy & Environment - Division of Environmental Quality (“DEQ”) and Woodlawn School District #6 (“Woodlawn”) entered into a December 15th Consent Administrative Order (“CAO”) addressing an alleged...more

Environmental Criminal Enforcement: Former Owner of Orange County, California, Wastewater Treatment Facility Pleads Guilty to...

Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard,... on 1/24/2023

The U.S. Attorney’s Office (Central District of California) issued a January 13th news release stating that Tim Miller (“Miller”) and his company Klean Waters Inc. (“Klean Waters”) each pleaded guilty to one felony count of...more

RCRA Wastewater Treatment Unit Exemption: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Interpretive Letter

Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard,... on 11/3/2022

United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery Director Carolyn Hoskinson transmitted a September 9th letter providing an interpretation of the Resource Conservation and...more

Final U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 1 NPDES General Permit (Massachusetts Facilities): PFAS Monitoring Included

Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard,... on 10/12/2022

Region 1 of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) issued on September 28th a final National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (“NPDES”) General Permit for Medium Wastewater Treatment Facilities...more

Consent Decree Interpretation/Clean Water Act: Federal Appellate Court Addresses Dispute Between Fort Smith and U.S. Environmental...

Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard,... on 9/19/2022

The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (“Eighth Circuit”) in a September 14th Opinion addressed a dispute between the City of Fort Smith (“Fort Smith”) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency...more

Wastewater Enforcement: Arkansas Department of Energy & Environment - Division of Environmental Quality and Baxter County Mobile...

Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard,... on 9/8/2022

The Arkansas Department of Energy & Environment – Division of Environmental Quality (“DEQ”) and Rolling Meadows MHC LLC (“Rolling Meadows”) entered into a June 23rd Consent Administrative Order (“CAO”) addressing alleged...more

Wastewater Enforcement: Arkansas Department of Energy & Environment - Division of Environmental Quality and Crawford County...

Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard,... on 9/7/2022

The Arkansas Department of Energy & Environment - Division of Environmental Quality (“DEQ”) and Concord Water and Sewer Public Facilities Board (“Concord”) entered into an August 8th Consent Administrative Order (“CAO”)...more

District Courts Continue to Struggle with the Reach of the Clean Water Act, This Time on Cape Cod

Mintz on 8/31/2022

In April of 2020 the Supreme Court of the United States answered a yes or no question with a maybe. The question: does a discharge to groundwater require a permit under the Federal Clean Water Act....more

Wastewater Enforcement: Arkansas Department of Energy & Environment - Division of Environmental Quality and Arkansas Department of...

Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard,... on 8/16/2022

The Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment – Division of Environmental Quality (“DEQ’) and the Arkansas Department of Corrections (“ADC”) entered into a July 22nd Consent Administrative Order (“CAO”) addressing alleged...more

California Environmental Law & Policy Update - July 2022 #4

Allen Matkins on 7/27/2022

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reverses changes to Endangered Species Act’s habitat rule - Associated Press - July 20 - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) on Wednesday canceled a Trump administration policy...more

Clean Water Act › Waste Treatment Facilities

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