Indiana Clean Water Coalition

Sewage in Our Streams Project

 Indiana Cities Failing to Properly Report Combined Sewer Overflows

Prepared by Katy Kintzele and Tom Neltner

 Improving Kids’ Environment

June 20, 2002

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Since IDEM instituted revised reporting requirements on October 1, 2001, 28 of Indiana’s 105 communities with combined sewer systems have regularly failed to either:

1.         Submit a required monthly report on combined sewer overflows within the 10-day grace period; or

2.         Constructively respond to IDEM’s written request to fix errors in a report that was submitted.

As indicated in Table 1, between 3 and 12% of these 105 CSO communities either do not submit or submit late their CSO monthly report.  After five months, the numbers are showing little improvement.  On the other hand, the forms that are completed show significant improvement – primarily due to IDEM follow-up.

IDEM has not completed its review of the completeness of the January and February 2002 monthly reports.

Why is Timely and Complete Reporting Important?

Failing to submit a timely or complete report may seem like a minor issue – a paperwork violation.  However, the Indiana Clean Water Coalition believes that timely and complete reporting is critical for the following four reasons:

1.      Communities with combined sewer systems have been required to report the duration and estimated volume of each overflow event for many years – at least 17 years for most.  Only a few have ever reported this information.  Until October 1, 2001, the format for the report was awkward to use but did not excuse their failure to report.  There is no evidence that IDEM acted on this long-standing problem.  Now that IDEM has made the reporting straightforward, there is no “excuse” for failing to comply with the law and their permits.

2.      Failing to report the frequency and volume of the overflows kept IDEM and the public in the dark on the nature and magnitude of the CSO problem.  CSOs became an “open secret” that has drawn attention only in the past several years when IDEM and the public pieced together various reports and realized that we are talking about billions of gallons of sewage in our streams each year across the state.  Without numbers, the problem could be ignored.  Timely and proper reporting overcomes the ignorance.

3.      Not all CSO communities are alike.  The reporting errors make it difficult to evaluate the performance of the CSO communities.  Many combined sewers overflow with only a light rain.  Some appear to occur with no rain.  Yet, some cities can handle a heavy rain without an overflow – Michigan City appears to be able to handle a rainfall that is expected to occur only once every 5 years.  Without complete reporting, IDEM and the public are not able to determine how well – or poorly – a city is performing. 

What is a Monthly CSO Discharge Monitoring Report?

On October 1, 2001, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) began requiring wastewater discharge permit holders with combined sewer systems to submit a specified monthly discharge monitoring report (DMR) on their wet-weather combined sewer overflows.  Under IDEM’s current guidance, a wet weather combined sewer overflow is an overflow that occurs within 72 hours of a rainfall.  The report is called a CSO DMR.

The CSO DMR requires CSO communities to estimate the duration and amount of combined sewer overflows for each day of the month for each overflow discharge point.  There are about 1000 discharge points in Indiana.  The CSO communities must also report the flow to the treatment plant and the amount of precipitation.  The report is a major step forward in filling the dramatic gap in information.  CSO communities have long been required to report overflows, but the past monthly reporting format had been awkward and rarely used.  The form that IDEM now requires was created to prevent such problems.

To IDEM’s credit, it has acted quickly to review the reports, issue deficiency letters when the report is incomplete, issue letters of violation when the reports are missing or the deficiency letters are ignored, and make follow-up phone calls.  The Indiana Clean Water Coalition will continue to track compliance and report on enforcement actions that have resulted from the letters of violation. 

How well are the CSO Communities complying?

28 of Indiana’s 105 communities with combined sewer systems have regularly failed to either:

1.         Submit a required monthly report on combined sewer overflows within the 10-day grace period; or

2.                  Constructively respond to IDEM’s written request to fix errors in a report that was submitted.

The compliance performance of each of the 28 communities is provided in Table 2.  The Indiana Clean Water Coalition has divided these 28 cities into three tiers, based on their compliance with IDEM’s requirements. 

Tier 1:  The Town of Akron stands alone in the first ‘tier’ in flaunting the reporting requirements.  It did not submit 4 of 5 reports in a timely manner.  When it finally did submit reports, two of the three submitted were incomplete.   The City’s CSO Long-Term Control Plan (LTCP) is also more than four months overdue.  After a Letter of Violation was sent regarding their LTCP, IDEM Office of Water Quality referred the case to enforcement.  Akron has been working on a plan for their city, but with apparent disregard to the requirements that IDEM has placed for all CSO communities.

Tier 2:  Six cities – East Chicago, Hammond, Jeffersonville, Knox, Ligonier and Rockport – make up a second tier of compliance problems.  They have twice failed to either submit a timely monthly report or to respond to an IDEM deficiency letter identifying errors in the report that was submitted.  Knox reported to IKE that it did not submit the reports because it only had one overflow in the past ten years and thought it did not need to report.  

Tier 3:  21 cities have had at least three strikes against them; these cities make up the third tier.  Three times, they have failed to either:

1.                  Submit a timely monthly report out of five months covered by IDEM’s status report;

2.                  Submit a properly completed monthly report at least two of the three months covered by IDEM’s status report; or

3.                  Respond to IDEM’s deficiency letter in the one-month covered by IDEM’s status report.

The following two cities are not included in the report, yet are mentioned for the reasons as outlined below:

·                    Fort Wayne:  The city has submitted a monthly report that combines the information for all overflow discharge points in the city.  IDEM has not determined whether it will accept this format since it does not identify the duration and estimated volume for each overflow point.  In a city like Fort Wayne with parks and recreational areas along many of the three rivers that receive sewage from its CSOs, the location can be important information.   

·                    Indianapolis:  The city is required to submit a report for all of its 134 outfalls every six months.  Only the outfalls with flow meters must be reported monthly.  IDEM granted this exemption because it uses a complicated modeling program to estimate overflows that is expensive and time-consuming to run.  IKE asked the city for the six-month report and promptly got a complete report.  IKE agrees with IDEM’s approach to the City of Indianapolis.

What is the Indiana Clean Water Coalition and its Sewage in Our Streams Project?

The Indiana Clean Water Coalition is a new organization representing many environmental organizations in Indiana that are concerned about the quality of Indiana’s water.  Members of the Coalition’s steering committee are Sandra Wilmore and Rae Schnapp (co-chairs), Dick Van Frank, Bowden Quinn, Bill Hayden, Tom Anderson, Glenn Pratt, Laura Arnold, Tom Neltner, and Joe Hailer.

The Coalition’s first project is its Sewage in Our Streams Project.  Improving Kids’ Environment (IKE) is the lead organization on the portion of the project that is focused on combined sewer overflows.  Tom Neltner is the Executive Director of IKE.  Katy Kintzele is an Associate working on the project.  Her work is funded by the Environmental Careers Organization in Boston thanks to a grant from EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice.  IKE also provides financial support to the project. 

What Other Reports are Planned?

This report is the first in a series of reports on sewage management by Indiana’s municipalities.  Other reports in the series include:

1.                  Sewage Bypasses and Sanitary Sewer Overflows:  Indiana municipalities reported more than 7,000 sewage bypasses, sanitary sewer overflows, and dry-weather combined sewer overflow events since 1997.  The municipalities estimated that more than 3.4 billion gallons of sewage were released to Indiana’s streams in the 5.4 years covered by IDEM’s documentation.

2.                  Sewer Connections to Municipal Treatment Plants:  Since 1993, IDEM has approved more than 10,000 sewer construction permits that discharge to Indiana streams.  The daily average design flow from these new connections often makes up more than 25% of the city’s treatment capacity.  IDEM approves these connections with virtually no regard to the impact on combined sewers.  It also does not appear to consider the cumulative impact on a municipality.  The process is akin to a consumer using a credit card based on the current balance in the checking account.  It can work but is risky – and when combined with bypass and overflow data tells a story of neglect.

3.                  Long-Term Control Plans:  The Coalition is carefully reviewing the CSO Long-Term Control Plans that have been submitted.  It will be releasing the results of the review for each city as they are available. 

To get more information on the Indiana Clean Water Coalition, contact Sandra Wilmore at (219) 879-3564 or sand@savedunes.org or Rae Schnapp at 317-685-8800 or rschnapp@hecweb.org.  To get more information about this report, upcoming reports, or details on a particular municipality, contact Katy Kintzele at (317) 590-4702.

Table 2

28 Indiana CSO Communities That Have at Least Three Strikes

Against Them for Failing to Properly Report Combined Sewer Overflows

To get more information on the Indiana Clean Water Coalition, contact Sandra Wilmore at (219) 879-3564 or sand@savedunes.org or Rae Schnapp at 317-685-8800 or rschnapp@hecweb.org.  To get more information about this report, upcoming reports, or details on a particular municipality, contact Katy Kintzele at (317) 590-4702.