NEW YORK (June
11, 2021) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced
that the U.S. Department of Justice filed a motion on June 8, 2021 to enter a
settlement with the Atlantic County Utilities Authority (ACUA) in the U.S.
District Court for the District of New Jersey that resolves violations of Clean
Air Act and New Jersey Air Pollution Control Act regulations at ACUA’s
wastewater treatment plant in Atlantic City, N.J. Under the proposed
settlement, ACUA will take a series of steps to bring the facility into compliance
with federal and state laws that protect clean air by reducing pollution from
sewage sludge incinerators. ACUA will also pay a $75,000 civil penalty and fund
a state-only project with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
(NJDEP) to install electric vehicle charging stations in Atlantic County. The
State of New Jersey joined the federal government as a co-plaintiff in this
case.
“This settlement means cleaner air for communities in Atlantic County with ACUA
improving how it manages sewage sludge at its Atlantic City facility,” said
acting EPA Regional Administrator Walter Mugdan. “If not done properly,
sewage sludge incineration can pose serious public health risks and this
settlement will establish critical safeguards for how ACUA manages, monitors
and reports this type of activity.”
“This settlement is an important step in protecting the environment and public
health in the Atlantic City area,” said New Jersey Department of
Environmental Protection Acting Commissioner Shawn LaTourette. “We would
like to thank Acting Regional Administrator Mugdan, the Department of Justice
and the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General for their collaboration on
this enforcement action. Improving the quality of our air and addressing
sources of air pollution that impact overburdened communities is a priority for
the DEP. We will continue to work with our partners at all levels to protect
air for everyone in New Jersey.”
The federal government and the state had alleged that beginning in 2016, ACUA failed
to develop required plans and operating parameters to comply with the sewage
sludge incinerator requirements for the Atlantic City facility, which burns
municipal sewage as a way to dispose of it. Sewage sludge can contain a range
of pollutants like mercury, lead and cadmium that can pose public health
threats when the sludge is burned.
Under the settlement, ACUA must take the following measures at the Atlantic
City facility to bring it into compliance with federal and state clean air
laws:
- Develop
plans to manage sewage sludge, monitor for mercury emissions and prepare
an annual compliance report;
- Establish
site-specific operating limits to control air emissions and monitor
compliance with those limits, and apply for a modification of its existing
air emissions permit to incorporate these limits;
- Establish
procedures to minimize and eliminate bypass events, which result in
uncontrolled air emissions.
EPA estimates that the actions already taken by ACUA
to comply with the Clean Air Act sewage sludge incinerator requirements prior
to lodging of the settlement, and the additional actions required by the
settlement, cost ACUA approximately $3 to $4 million. As part of the
settlement, ACUA will also spend at least $30,000 to fund the installation of
electric vehicle charging stations for public use in Atlantic County. If unable
to find a government entity within Atlantic County willing to work with ACUA on
the project, ACUA will instead pay $30,000 to NJDEP’s “It Pay$ to Plug In”
program. The state program provides grants to offset the cost of purchasing and
installing electric vehicle charging stations. The charging station project was
included in the proposed settlement to resolve state-law claims and will be entirely
overseen by NJDEP.
This settlement is part of EPA’s multi-regional initiative to bring municipal
sewage sludge incinerator facilities into compliance with Clean Air Act
requirements.
