NC's biggest sewage offenders rack up millions of dollars in fines

Sewage backing up into people’s showers and flowing along the streets in Currituck County. Millions of gallons of hog waste flooding streams and wetlands Down East. Wastewater issues at student apartments near Appalachian State and Western Carolina universities in the mountains.

Illegal wastewater discharges are not merely a nuisance, but a threat to public health and the environment. Fecal material can contaminate drinking water wells and waterways. Industrial wastewater can contain numerous contaminants that enter the drinking water supply.

Enforcement data compiled by the NC Department of Environmental Quality show the scope of violators: public and private utilities, industry, agriculture. Some of the transgressions are one-and-done, a blip on the entity’s otherwise unremarkable compliance history.

Yet the data also reveal chronic offenders: Sandler Utilities, which owns the wastewater system at the Eagle Creek Subdivision in Currituck County, is scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 20 on allegations of civil contempt, filed by DEQ. (Envirolink operates the system on behalf of Sandler, but it also has a spotty history. The Currituck Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant in Moyock that it runs has amassed dozens of violations.)

Read more: https://ncpolicywatch.com/2021/12/13/monday-numbers-ncs-biggest-sewage-offenders-rack-up-millions-of-dollars-in-fines/