CLF Appeals St. Albans Sewage Permit: Weak Permit Would Worsen Pollution Problems in St. Albans Bay

Contact
Colin Durrant, CLF Director of Communications
617-850-1722

Montpelier, VT (October 31, 2008) – A weak water pollution permit for the St. Albans City sewage treatment plant will allow increases in harmful nutrient pollution into St. Albans Bay contends an appeal filed today by the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF). The permit, issued in early October by the Agency of Natural Resources, fails to comply with the Clean Water Act and will lead to direct pollution outflow into one of Lake Champlain’s most imperiled bays.

“After decades of failed pollution control efforts, St. Albans Bay has some of the worst water quality in Vermont,” said Mike Rapacz, Lake Champlain Lakekeeper and Conservation Law Foundation staff scientist. “This unwise and unlawful permit represents a failure on the part of Vermont ANR to begin the Bay’s restoration through stricter pollution controls.”

Despite Lake Champlain’s ongoing water quality problems, the St. Albans permit actually allows the City’s sewage treatment plant to discharge phosphorus at concentrations that are thirty times higher than the phosphorus levels identified in the state’s water quality standards. The permit authorizes the City to increase the actual amount of oxygen-depleting phosphorus its sewage treatment plant dumps into the Bay each year.

After six years of implementation efforts under the Lake Champlain TMDL, the 2008 State of the Lake Report issued by the Lake Champlain Basin Program identifies St. Albans Bay as one of four lake segments where water quality is “deteriorating.” The Bay fails to meet Vermont’s minimum water quality standards for phosphorus—the pollutant most responsible for the Bay’s water quality problems such as nuisance blue-green algae blooms.

“Anglers, boaters and all Vermont residents deserve effective implementation of the Clean Water Act to reduce pollution flowing into St. Albans Bay from all sources, including industrial-scale farms and urban runoff,” said Lakekeeper Rapacz. “Requiring readily-achievable, measurable reductions in pollution from the Bay’s largest sewage treatment plant is an important piece of the puzzle.”

Originally enacted in 1972, the federal Clean Water Act establishes a national goal of “water quality which provides for the protection and propagation of fish, shellfish, and wildlife and provides for recreation in and on the water.” Vermont ANR is responsible for implementing the Clean Water Act, including permitting for sewage treatment plants, in Vermont pursuant to an agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency.

CLF’s appeal of the St. Albans permit was filed before the Vermont Environmental Court.

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The Conservation Law Foundation (www.clf.org) works to solve the most significant environmental challenges facing New England. CLF’s advocates use law, economics and science to create innovate strategies to conserve natural resources, protect public health and promote vital communities in our region. Founded, in 1966, CLF is a nonprofit, member-supported organization with offices in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.