Capital Region Water agrees to modified consent decree

The U.S. EPA and Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection have reached a proposed modified consent decree with Capital Region Water concerning the operation of its treatment facility and sewer system.

The modified consent decree updates a 2015 consent decree that resolved alleged violations of the Clean Water Act and the Pennsylvania Clean Streams Law for unauthorized discharges into the Susquehanna River and its tributary, Paxton Creek.

Capital Region Water owns and operates the Harrisburg sewer and stormwater systems, including an Advanced Wastewater Treatment Facility located on Cameron Steet in Harrisburg. The facility discharges treated wastewater from Harrisburg and the surrounding area into the Susquehanna River and eventually the Chesapeake Bay.

EPA syas that the proposed modified consent decree will help ensure that Capital Region Water’s treatment facility and sewer system is functioning adequately to address continued problems with combined sewage overflows and support a sufficient plan for controlling overflows in the long term.

“It is so important for treatment plants to make the necessary and required upgrades so that local waterways and the Susquehanna River can be protected from harmful pathogens,” said EPA Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Adam Ortiz. “And by protecting local waterways, we will also be protecting the treasured Chesapeake Bay.”

The modified consent decree also requires Capital Region Water to incorporate green infrastructure planning, provide more robust public notice of any sewer overflows, and post submissions required under the modified consent decree to its website.