Story here from the McDowell News:
At least one environmental group has branded the city of Marion’s Corpening Creek sewer treatment plant as the “worst wastewater treatment plant in N.C.” because of a series of violations and fines.
But city officials said they’ve been working to fix the problems at the sewer treatment plant on N.C. 226 South. When completed, the $6.6 million upgrade project will allow the Corpening Creek plant to meet all current and future state and federal environmental rules, said City Manager Bob Boyette.The environmental group Clean Water for North Carolina (CWFNC) has identified the Corpening Creek plant as a “chronic polluter” of the federal Clean Water Act, having one of the worst National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) compliance records in the state.
“They have been in violation of the Clean Water Act nearly every quarter for the past 6 years, resulting in over $20,000 in fines,” read a statement from Gracia O’Neill, assistant director of CWFNC. “The plant has been consistently unable to comply with effluent limits for cyanide, Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) and Total Suspended Solids (TSS) for years.”
The city of Marion has requested that the state Division of Water Quality issue a Special Order by Consent (SOC), for the plant. This SOC, if issued, will allow the facility to legally exceed effluent limits for cyanide, BOD, TSS and Total Residual Chlorine (TRC), until April 1, 2010. The public has until Saturday to submit comments in writing to the state. The comments can be mailed to the Western NPDES Program, 1617 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-1617.