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A federal district court is ordering the city to bring its polluting storm sewer system into compliance with the Clean Water Act after ignoring two previous EPA administrative orders to make the required fixes.
The city's sewage system includes more than 195 miles of sewer lines, 3,100 catch-basins, and 3,000 manholes which run through Mount Vernon. Since the problems were discovered, the city has been fined millions of dollars in penalties for pollution-related violations.
The Clean Water Act was put in place to prohibit discharges of pollutants into nearby waters, absent a permit.
Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said that the city is “now subject to a permanent injunction to remedy the discharges of raw sewage and other illicit pollutants from its system into the rivers.”
“Mount Vernon’s longstanding failure to comply with its Clean Water Act obligations, including flouting EPA administrative orders, will now be remedied through judicial relief,” Strauss said.
“This lawsuit was brought to protect the waters of this district, and the court’s detailed and comprehensive order requires Mount Vernon to fix its ongoing violations, including the discharge of raw sewage and other illicit pollutants from its storm sewer system into the Hutchinson and Bronx Rivers.”
Strauss said that many municipalities, including Mount Vernon, operate “municipal separate storm sewer systems” that carry stormwater and discharge it without treatment into nearby waters.
Because separate storm sewer systems do not treat the water they discharge, a municipality is required by its Clean Water Act permit to maintain a program for identifying and eliminating any sewage or other illicit pollutants that are flowing into the storm sewers, which Mount Vernon has failed to do, Strauss added.
On June 28, 2018, a complaint was filed in federal court alleging that Mount Vernon has not been in compliance with the Clean Water Act since 2012 by allowing raw sewage to flow into its sewer system.
Mount Vernon has also failed to comply with orders issued by the EPA to compel the city’s compliance with the federal mandates.
Strauss made note that Mount Vernon officials have not disputed their Clean Water Act violations, leading to the permanent injunction.
Under the injunction, the court is ordering Mount Vernon to:
- Track down and identify all sources of illicit discharge for impaired storm sewer system outfalls, and eliminate all sources of illicit discharge;
- Perform necessary construction and repairs for impaired outfalls;
- Complete inspections to ensure detection of future illicit discharge;
- Obtain the necessary equipment, staffing, and funding to comply with its Clean Water Act and permit obligations;
- Develop an updated stormwater management plan;
- Perform a sewer system evaluation survey of the sanitary sewer system to identify possible discharges of sewage and develop a sewer system corrective action plan; and
- Submit periodic reports to EPA and New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation.
“I am pleased that the City of Mount Vernon is being required to take the appropriate actions to protect its residents and downstream communities from threats posed by raw sewage and other pollutants," EPA Regional Administrator Peter Lopez said. "EPA and New York State have worked with Mount Vernon over the past several years and we look forward to seeing the problems with the storm sewer system resolved to protect public health and the environment.”
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