#472: 10-9-98 ALEXANDRIA SANITATION AUTHORITY AGREES TO END NITROGEN DISCHARGES

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ENR FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1998 (202) 514-2008 WWW.USDOJ.GOV TDD (202) 514-1888 ALEXANDRIA SANITATION AUTHORITY AGREES TO END NITROGEN DISCHARGES WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency reached an agreement today with the Alexandria Sanitation Authority to reduce discharges of nitrogen and ammonia into Hunting Creek, and to spend approximately $175 million to upgrade its sewage treatment plant. As part of the agreement, the Alexandria Sanitation Authority will spend an estimated $175 million to upgrade its sewage treatment plant by installing a de-nitrification process to reduce discharges of nitrogen and ammonia into Hunting Creek, a tributary of the Potomac River. The Authority has been one of the largest dischargers of ammonia-nitrogen to the Chesapeake Bay. "This settlement will help to reduce significantly the harmful ammonia-nitrogen discharges that end up in the Chesapeake Bay," said Lois J. Schiffer, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Environment and Natural Resources Division. "This settlement is good for the Chesapeake Bay and the Alexandria community. The Chesapeake Bay is one of our greatest natural resources, and we must work hard to protect it." "Nitrogen over-enrichment is on e of the greatest pollution problems in the Chesapeake Bay," said W. Michael McCabe, EPA's Regional Administrator. "This settlement will help protect the bay and local waterways by greatly reducing nitrogen discharges from Alexandria." According to the complaint, the Alexandria Sanitation Department violated the Clean Water Act by failing to control and report discharges of certain forms of nitrogen, solids, and biochemical oxygen demand, since early 1990. This failure resulted in the discharge of illegal limits of pollutants into Hunting Creek, the Potomac River, and the Chesapeake Bay. The complaint and settlement agreement were filed in U.S. District Court in Alexandria. The Alexandria Sanitation Authority is located on South Payne Road in Alexandria, Virginia. ### 98-472