This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The Utah Division of Water Quality closed out 2015 with a series of settlements with Utah's most frequent water quality offender — municipalities.
Salt Lake City, Springville, Lehi and Murray are the latest entities to agree to make payments to the Division of Water Quality (DWQ) to resolve complaints of illegal discharges into Utah waters.
It's not that uncommon for Utah cities to get themselves into hot water over a bit of dirtied water, said Walt Baker, DWQ director. Municipalities have more opportunities to, for example, accidentally spill sewage into a river, he said, than a business or factory does.
"Businesses don't own their own sewer systems; municipalities do," he said. Some industrial facilities do have their own waste treatment, he said, but most just have a connection to a municipality's sewer and water system.
Though the four complaints were settled at the same time, they took place months or years apart and are unrelated, Baker said. It was "just serendipitous" that the four settlements came in at the same time.
Alan Matheson, executive director of the Utah Department of Environmental Quality, has recognized the growing number of illegal discharges into Utah's waterways as one of the department's top priorities for 2016. He said the department recently created a new position within the agency that will be responsible for educating municipalities and other discharging entities about their responsibilities. The new staffer will also be responsible for monitoring and reporting new spills to ensure proper response and cleanup.
There are municipal water systems that have clean records, Baker said, but many struggle to keep up with aging infrastructure and decreased manpower.
As new technologies have increased, the degree to which wastewater treatment and other operations can be automated, Baker said, some public utilities have cut back on staff. That hasn't necessarily created problems, he said, but when problems occur — or when monitoring technologies fail or go offline — municipalities can be caught unawares.
Automated systems are "good in most cases," Baker said, "but if the system goes down and you don't have enough manpower, you're flying blind."
Equipment failure was a factor in settlements with Springville and Murray. Danny Astill, Murray's superintendent of water, said that in July 2015, a pump failed at the same time as the automated communications system that should have notified city employees of the problem. Fortunately, he said, a maintenance worker noticed something was wrong and went out to check on the pump, discovering the leak within minutes.
According to the notice of violation, the incident resulted in a discharge of about 600 gallons of untreated wastewater into the city storm drain, which flows into the Jordan River. A proposed settlement agreement would have Murray pay the Utah Department of Environmental Quality $100 for the incident and would require the city to invest $1,900 in a related mitigation project.
Astill said Murray had plans to replace the pump that caused the incident.
Baker said Springville also experienced a lift station failure, likely as a result of a power surge. The failure resulted in the release of 20,000 gallons of sewer overflow into a drain that flows into Spring Creek in November 2014, according to the relevant Notice of Violation. Baker said the sewage likely ended up in Utah Lake.
A proposed settlement agreement would also have Springville pay a $100 fine and invest $5,567 in a mitigation project.
Multiple attempts to reach Springville Public Works were unsuccessful.
Some spills, Baker said, are proof that accidents happen to even the most prepared. Salt Lake City, he said, has an aging wastewater system but does "a great job with the maintenance." But in June 2014, one of the city's sewer lines sprung a leak, discharging untreated wastewater into a drain that empties into a pond on the Nibley golf course, which may flow into the Jordan River, according to the notice of violation. A settlement agreement would fine the city $100 for the incident.
Tom Ward, deputy director of Salt Lake City Public Works, said a routine maintenance check discovered the leaky pipe, which was fixed within an hour of discovery .
Lehi was served a notice of violation when complaints about murky water in Dry Creek led to a site where the city was drilling a new culinary well in July 2015.
The muddy water from the well was allowed to flow directly into the storm drain, when it should have been left to settle to remove sediment before being discharged, Baker said. The discharge of small amounts of sediment are OK, he said, but lab results suggested that the amount of sediment coming from the well rig was significant and could threaten fish and other aquatic wildlife, so the discharge resulted in a $2,200 penalty.
Cameron Boyle, an assistant to Lehi's city administrator, said he believed the incident was a result of a misunderstanding of state requirements for the discharge of sediment.
"Since there wasn't a clear guideline, they continued to pump and discharge into the storm drain," for about three or four days, he said.
These kinds of incidents are to some extent just a consequence of the urban environment, Baker said, and as Utah continues to grow, the number of spills likely will increase.
"We're never going to live in a time when we're 100 percent insulated from these kinds of issues," he said.
Twitter: @EmaPen Municipalities paying fines for illegal discharges into Utah's waters
Salt Lake City
June 26, 2014 • A sewer line sprang a leak and discharged untreated wastewater into a pond on Nibley golf course that may flow into the Jordan River
Fine • $100
Springville
Nov. 2, 2014 • A lift station failure released 20,000 gallons of sewer overflow into a drain that flows into Spring Creek and then Utah Lake
Fine • $100 for incident, $5,567 to be invested in mitigation
Lehi
July 2015 • Muddy water from a new well went directly into a storm drain instead of being allowed to settle so that sediment could be removed before flowing to Dry Creek
Fine • $2,200
Murray
July 28, 2015 • Both a pump and an automated system failed, resulting in a discharge of 600 gallons of untreated wastewater into a storm drain that flows into the Jordan River
Fine • $100 for the incident, $1,900 to be invested in mitigation