June 7, 2006

The Department of Environmental Quality announced today that it has entered into a Consent Judgment with Buena Vista Charter Township, located in Saginaw County, to resolve violations of the Township’s wastewater discharge permit and Michigan’s water resource protection laws.

The Consent Judgment addresses sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs) that have occurred from the Township’s sewer system since 1996. SSOs are discharges of raw or inadequately treated sewage from municipal sanitary sewer systems. The Consent Judgment also addresses violations of the Township’s wastewater discharge permit and the Township’s failure to fully comply with a 1994 administrative consent order (ACO) entered between the Township and the DEQ to address SSOs.

The 1994 ACO required the Township to complete all necessary system improvements and comply with the wastewater discharge permit on or before June 1998. Although improvements have been made to the Township’s sewer system and there have been fewer SSOs in recent years, the Township failed to meet the timeline outlined in the ACO.

The Consent Judgment provides an opportunity for the Township to certify that its system currently meets the required performance standards, or otherwise develop and implement a corrective action program according to the schedule in the agreement. All improvements required by the corrective action program must be completed no later than August 2009.

“Like many other communities working to eliminate SSOs, the Township has committed to do what is necessary to improve its infrastructure and protect public health and the waters of this state,” said DEQ Director Steven E. Chester. “The results will not only protect our environment, but improve the quality of life in the community.”

Under the Consent Judgment, the Township agreed to reimburse the State of Michigan for enforcement costs in the amount of $6,000 and to pay up to $49,000 in penalties for violations of the 1994 ACO. The Township is required to make an up-front payment of $25,000 toward the penalty amount, and the remaining $24,000 will be held in abeyance pending the DEQ’s review of the Township’s finances after a corrective action program is completed.

Editor’s note: DEQ news releases are available on the department’s Internet home page at www.michigan.gov/deq.

“Protecting Michigan’s Environment, Ensuring Michigan’s Future”

Revised June 7, 2006 by Pat Watson