The Department of Environmental Quality announced a settlement today reached with the village of Howard City regarding violations of Michigan's water protection laws and the Village's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit.

Howard City owns and operates a wastewater treatment plant that was cited with violations including effluent limitation exceedances dating back to 2003 due to insufficient capacity in its wastewater treatment system.

The Administrative Consent Order agreed upon by both parties requires Howard City to complete construction of WWTP upgrades and submit an approvable Operation and Maintenance Plan for the basin by December, 2011. In addition, the Village agrees to pay $12,213.68 for partial compensation of enforcement costs and a civil fine.

"I appreciate the Village's commitment to working with the DEQ to devise a long-term corrective action plan that will better protect the public health and environment for their community," said DEQ Director Steven E. Chester.

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 September 26, 2008 by Pat Watson