Agenda Date: 03/12/2019
Subject:
Title
Wastewater Utility ordinance regarding the Industrial Pretreatment Program
Body
|
Presented By: |
Keith Reester, Public Works Director |
REQUESTED COUNCIL ACTION:
Does city council support approval of Local Limits standards for the South Platte Water Renewal Partners (SPWRP)?
BACKGROUND:
The Littleton-Englewood Wastewater Treatment Plant, operated by SPWRP, is required to comply with a variety of state and federal regulations. Local Limits are wastewater limitations on pollutants like metals and solvents that apply to commercial and industrial facilities. Local Limits put controls on the discharge of toxic pollutants into the treatment system. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires wastewater plants to set new Local Limits each time they receive a discharge permit.
The purpose of setting these limits is to:
• Protect the facility against contaminants passing through or interfering with the treatment capabilities of the system
• Protect receiving water quality
• Protect worker health and safety
• Improve opportunities for beneficial reuse of residuals
The current update represents more than five years of work and data collection to develop standards that comply with EPA requirements and provide SPWRP the most flexibility in application to meet local needs under federal guidelines.
Previous city councils have approved local limits technical evaluations for prior discharge permits.
There has been no previous city council action on this SPWRP Local Limits technical evaluation for the new discharge permit, Permit Number CO0032999, which was issued to the SPWRP effective December 1, 2017.
STAFF ANALYSIS:
1. A comparison of past and proposed Local Limits is included in the table below:
|
Calculated Local Limits Versus Previously Established Limits |
|
|
2009 Calculated Uniform Local Limits (mg/L) |
2018 Calculated Uniform Local Limits (mg/L) |
|
Arsenic |
0.55 |
0.014 |
|
Benzene |
0.050 |
0.14 |
|
BTEX |
0.750 |
0.750 |
|
Cadmium |
0.30 |
0.22 |
|
Chromium |
2.90 |
5.37 |
|
Copper, Total |
3.94 |
3.42 |
|
Cyanide |
N/A |
0.31 |
|
Hexavalent Chromium |
0.86 |
1.97 |
|
Lead |
0.51 |
2.90 |
|
Mercury |
0.005 |
0.001 |
|
Molybdenum |
2.82 |
5.69 |
|
Nickel |
2.66 |
3.76 |
|
Selenium |
0.054 |
0.24 |
|
Silver |
0.112 |
0.68 |
|
Zinc |
8.8 |
34.35 |
Limit concentrations are determined by considering what comes into the plant, how much the plant can handle, and what the limits are on the South Platte River. Limits will fluctuate between permits based on changes in permit limits, stream standards, plant capabilities and what industries are in the service area.
After first reading of the ordinace, a 30-day public notice period will be conducted by the EPA. At the conclusion of this period, the second reading, tentatively scheduled for May 2019, would progress with subsequent incorporation into each city’s municipal code.
FISCAL IMPACTS:
The changes in the Local Limits present no additional operational or compliance costs as all components of the work are already being performed as part of the plant’s standard workload.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
The SPWRP staff and Supervisory Committee recommend city council approve, by ordinance, the SPWRP Industrial Pretreatment Local Limits technical evaluation as drafted and preliminarily approved by the EPA.
This item was approved by the Supervisory Committee on February 28, 2019.
OPTIONS/ALTERNATIVES:
Recommend staff bring forward an ordinance for first reading and:
- approve the new Local Limits standards; or
- do not approve the new Local Limits standards and fall out of compliance with EPA required regulations for wastewater treatment plant discharge permits.