FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                   ENR
FRIDAY, APRIL 5, 1996                          (202) 514-2008
                                           TDD (202) 514-1888

          D.C. WILL OVERHAUL BLUE PLAINS TREATMENT PLANT
                                 
  RESOLVES JUSTICE, EPA LAWSUIT AT LARGEST U.S. SEWAGE FACILITY

     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The United States and the District of 
Columbia announced an agreement today designed to halt and 
reverse the physical deterioration of Southwest D.C.'s Blue
Plains sewage treatment plant, the largest advanced wastewater 
treatment plant in the country.  Implementing the agreement 
will ensure that area citizens will be protected from any 
public health threat.

     The District has agreed to make significant upgrades and
repairs estimated to cost $20 million over the next two years.
It also requires the District to operate properly and maintain 
the treatment facility to ensure compliance with the terms and 
conditions of its operating permit.  The agreement, filed today 
in a federal court in D.C., resolves a Department of Justice and
Environmental Protection Agency lawsuit.

     EPA inspections in 1995 revealed deteriorating facility 
conditions, inadequate maintenance and other problems.  The 
settlement requires the District to correct these problems to 
ensure that the plant does not discharge high concentrations 
of chemical pollutants and harmful microorganisms into the 
Potomac River.

     "Today's agreement will help protect the health of D.C. 
citizens and promote a cleaner environment along the Potomac 
River," said Lois J. Schiffer, Assistant Attorney General in
charge of the Department's Environment and Natural Resources 
Division.  "I am pleased that the District has stepped up, 
accepted responsibility and will make the necessary improvements."

     The Blue Plains facility treats all wastewaters discharged 
into the sewer system of the District, as well as parts of 
Maryland's Montgomery and Prince George's Counties and parts of
Virginia's Arlington, Loudon and Fairfax Counties.

     Michael McCabe, EPA Region III Administrator, said, 
"This agreement marks an important milestone in ensuring human 
health and environmental protection for the people of the
Washington metropolitan area."

     Steven A. Herman, EPA's Assistant Administrator for the 
Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance said, "EPA was 
very concerned that the deterioration of Blue Plains, if
allowed to continue, would pose a significant risk to public 
health and the environment if the treatment plan failed and 
large quantities of raw sewage or poorly treated wastewater 
found its way into the Potomac.  We are satisfied that the 
District has agreed to remedy the operation and maintenance 
problems at the facility under a court-ordered schedule."

     As part of the settlement, the District will 
rehabilitate its pollution holding tanks -- called
sedimentation basins -- and overhaul its outmoded sludge 
dewatering facilities.  These actions are critical to ensure 
proper and effective treatment of the wastewater, particularly 
under high flow situations caused by heavy rain storms.

     Excess discharges of ammonia, nitrogen, chlorine and 
certain microorganisms could significantly damage aquatic life. 
Inadequately treated sewage can increase the health risks for
people who use the river for recreational uses like boating, 
fishing and swimming.

     User charge revenues collected by the District from its 
residents and the suburban users of the facility are pooled 
with revenues in the District's General Fund.  Large amounts 
of these revenues have been unavailable to pay for the cost 
of operating and maintaining the treatment plant.  The 
settlement filed today looks to proposed Congressional 
legislation that would require the District to segregate 
and expend these revenues for the operation and maintenance 
of Blue Plains.  The agreement reserves the United States' 
rights, in appropriate circumstances, to seek a court order 
for the same purpose.

     In the civil action resolved by today's settlement, 
the United States alleges that the District violated the 
Operation and Maintenance provision of its National 
Pollutant Discharge Elimination System ("NPDES") permit 
issued by EPA under the Clean Water Act.  The NPDES permit,
which regulates the pollutant discharges from Blue Plains, 
requires the District to properly operate and maintain the 
treatment facility to ensure compliance with the terms and 
conditions of the permit.

     The United States' complaint also alleges that the 
District, which has received since 1973 approximately $360 
million under EPA construction grant agreements for Blue 
Plains, violated the Clean Water Act and the grant 
agreements by failing to spend user revenue to operate and
maintain the facility.  EPA grant agreements require 
implementation of a proper user charge system as a condition 
of receiving the grant funds.

     In addition to requiring extensive rehabilitation and 
maintenance of the plant's aging equipment, the Stipulated 
Agreement and Order requires the District to submit monthly 
reports to EPA on the status of the construction projects 
outlined in the agreement, as well as the status of payments 
owing and made to chemical suppliers and maintenance contractors.

     Notice of the agreement will be published in the Federal 
Register.  Interested parties have 30 days in which to comment.

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96-157