MCCOMB SEWAGE PROBLEMS FINALLY RESOLVED?

A few months ago, the GRN surprised the small City of McComb, MS by sending a notice of intent to sue over continuing problems with the city’s east sewage treatment plant. As far back as 2001, the city had been violating its discharge permit, polluting a local stream with wastewater containing high levels of suspended solids, copper, chlorine, and pathogens. That improperly treated wastewater was flowing into a small stream known as Town Creek, then into the Little Tangipahoa River, and ultimately into Lake Pontchartrain.

Unfortunately, the City of McComb had failed to adequately address its sewage problems for years, and its sewage has been polluting the water in the Little Tangipahoa River. For that reason, the GRN felt it was important to make sure this problem was finally resolved. There had been, unfortunately, a history of failure to fix the sewage problems in McComb.

Working with the City of McComb and Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ), we reviewed the proposed agreement between the city and state and requested revisions. The end result is that McComb will have to have a new sewage treatment plant operating and in compliance by Jan 1, 2011. In the meantime, the City has taken steps to improve its current sewage treatment system and has paid a $50,000 fine. Because the City and MDEQ were able to reach an agreement that suited us, we no longer needed to proceed with our notice of intent to sue.

If everything goes according to plan, McComb can be considered a success story. Unfortunately, this situation never should have arisen. Enforcement of water pollution violations has been too lax in Mississippi and other states, to the point that polluters have little to fear. McComb had a long legacy of discharging improperly treated sewage, but it hasn’t been the only city or industry violating the law. There are many other sewage treatment plants in Mississippi that continue to violate their permits and desperately need attention.

Jeff Grimes is Assistant Director of Water Resources for the GRN