May 2, 2007

Department of Environmental Quality Director Steven E. Chester announced today that a settlement was entered with Wayne County Department of Environment regarding violations of Michigan's water protection laws. The settlement was reached through an Administrative Consent Order that resolves the numerous Sanitary Sewer Overflows (SSO) that have occurred from the county's North Huron Valley/Rouge Valley Interceptor System since 2000.

SSOs are discharges of raw or inadequately treated sewage from municipal separate sanitary sewer systems. These systems are designed to carry domestic sewage but not storm water. When an SSO occurs, sewage is released into areas such as basements, city streets, and streams rather than being transported to a treatment facility. They are illegal and often constitute a serious environmental and public health threat.

The settlement announced today is part of the SSO Strategy initiated by the DEQ in 2000 with the goal of eliminating these problems through legally enforceable agreements and preventing adverse impacts to waters of the state of Michigan and risks to public health.

Wayne County owns and operates the regional interceptor sewer system known as the North Huron Valley/Rouge Valley Interceptor System that provides sanitary sewage collection and transportation services to the communities located in the north central part of the county. The county's sewer system is a tributary to the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department Interceptor System and Wastewater Treatment Plant.

In addition to the payment of a civil penalty of $8,000 and reimbursement of DEQ enforcement costs of $2,500, the settlement requires the county to perform extensive corrective actions within the sewer system in order to eliminate SSOs to Michigan's waters.

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 May 2, 2007 by Pat Watson