National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit

In March, 2007 the District received a Draft NPDES discharge permit from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) which was issued as a final permit in August, 2008. The permit contains two parts and three attachments. Part I contains discharge limits for the District and Part II is standard EPA language for all permits; Attachment A presents toxicity testing requirements; and Attachments B and C discusses local industrial discharge limits, and annual industrial waste pretreatment reporting.

The District appealed the 2008 permit due to the concerns outlined in our spring, 2007 newsletter, and after review by the EPA Environmental Appeals Board one of our issues was remanded and remaining issues were denied. In April, 2011, following a modification to the permit and additional appeals the EPA issued a notice that all permit conditions would take effect on May 1, 2011. We appealed that decision to the US First Circuit Court in April 2011, requesting a stay of the permit conditions during the appeal, and recently submitted our brief to the court.

Of particular concern are the stringent limits placed on total nitrogen (TN), and on phosphorus (P). While the District is dedicated to improving the water quality of the Blackstone River, we believe that certain conditions in the draft discharge permit are not warranted based on our current knowledge of the River. These permit conditions are not supported by current science, and are not justified for several reasons. The permit is an expensive order that fails to consider $180 million in ongoing capital improvements at the District, and as such imposes an unfair burden on District ratepayers, many of them members of Environmental Justice populations. Without strong scientific evidence, it will require costly treatment changes that are not environmentally sustainable.