SALEM, W.Va. — Clean Water Act violations will cost the City of Salem $25,000, according to a Consent Agreement and Final Order from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Among other violations, the city is accused of failing to comply with the effluent limits contained in its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit and discharging more pollutants than permissible into Salem Fork, a tributary of the Monongahela River.
In addition to paying the civil penalty, Salem has agreed pursuant to the Administrative Order on Consent (AOC) to develop and implement an updated Operations and Maintenance Manual, conduct an engineering evaluation of the wastewater treatment plant, develop and implement a corrective action plan to improve the operations at its wastewater treatment plant, and correct all effluent exceedances.
Failure to address the issues would result in potential harm to aquatic life by discharges of fecal bacteria, suspended solids, ammonia nitrogen, and copper.
Story by Mike Nolting, MetroNews