Idaho city to pay $400,000 Clean Water Act penalty, agrees to upgrade wastewater facility

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the state of Idaho and the City of Driggs, Idaho have agreed on a series of measures the city will undertake to address chronic violations of the Clean Water Act (CWA).

Correcting Clean Water Act violations

Actions taken by the city include a major upgrade of its wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). The upgraded facility is estimated to cost $25 million and must be completed by December 15, 2025, according to the EPA.

In a consent decree with EPA, DOJ, and the state of Idaho, the city will also pay a $400,000 penalty for ongoing failures to comply with its Clean Water Act permit and failing to meet compliance obligations it committed to in a 2018 legal agreement with the EPA.

In 2018, the city also paid a penalty of $13,500 for violations of its permit.

In addition to upgrading its wastewater treatment facility, the city must also:

• Submit an updated Quality Assurance Plan by March 1, 2025;
• Conduct collection system monitoring, including monitoring flow from the city of Victor that contributes wastewater to the Driggs wastewater treatment plant;
• Sample influent to the treatment plant and sample effluent from the lagoon monthly;
• Annually measure the amount of sewage sludge in the lagoons and manage sludge as needed;
• Continue its efforts to locate and quantify sources of inflow and infiltration during periods of high groundwater levels;
• Develop a staffing plan and hire sufficient staff; and
• Every three months, submit a report describing progress and challenges in meeting the consent decree requirements.

“All communities are expected to fully comply with the laws meant to protect the environment we all rely on,” said EPA Region 10 Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Division Director Ed Kowalski in a press release.“This settlement is an example of a small municipality recognizing the need to step up and committing to overdue upgrades to its infrastructure to comply with the Clean Water Act and protect important water resources.”

Violations and exceedances

The Idaho Conservation League (ICL) releases an annual report on municipal sewage treatment plants in the state of Idaho.

In the Seventh Annual Idaho Wastewater Treatment Plant Report, ICL showed that the Driggs WWTP had the most effluent violations of any WWTP in the state in both 2022 and 2023.

The report states that “the facility had 53 total violations in 2022 and 54 violations again in 2023. The facility also discharged approximately 36,000 pounds of ammonia over limits in both 2022 and 2023.”

The report stated that the facility has never been able to properly remove enough ammonia from its wastewater.

At the time of the report, the City of Driggs had contracted with engineers to begin the process of designing a new facility to address the issues.

ICL stated that it was encouraged by the progress the city is making to address issues with their WWTP.

Constructing a new WWTP can take an abundance of time and resources and can place pressure on smaller systems’ budget and staffing.