City of Gloucester enters consent decree to add secondary treatment

The U.S. EPA announced that it, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts have entered into a consent decree with the City of Gloucester, Massachusetts, to resolve alleged Clean Water Act violations by the city.

EPA says that the city violated the Clean Water Act when its water pollution control facility discharged undertreated effluent into the Massachusetts Bay.

The settlement requires Gloucester to undertake a construction project to add secondary treatment to its water pollution control facility. The treatment will add combination of physical and biological processes that break down harmful elements in municipal sewage. The city has operated without secondary controls on its treatment plant under a permit waiver issued most recently in 2001.

EPA and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) recently determined that upgrading the city’s treatment plant to provide secondary treatment was needed to address water pollution in Massachusetts Bay.

“The wastewater treatment plant in Gloucester is the only remaining facility without secondary treatment in all of New England, so this consent decree is vitally important to protect and improve the environment in the Gloucester area,” said MassDEP Acting Commissioner Gary Moran. “MassDEP will continue to work with the city and the EPA to prioritize the design and construction of the new treatment facility and support the utilization of substantial federal and state funding for its completion.”

Under the proposed settlement, the city agreed to proceed with the upgrades. The cost of the remedial measures is expected to be greater than $150 million.

“Sewage can carry harmful pollutants, posing potential harm to human health and aquatic organisms,” said Acting Assistant Administrator Larry Starfield of EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “By reducing discharges into Massachusetts Bay, this settlement will result in cleaner, safer water, benefiting both local communities and the environment.”

In 2022, EPA issued a new National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit to the City of Gloucester which included pollution limits that the current treatment plant cannot meet because the plant only provides primary treatment, known as clarification or settling and disinfection. Complying with the proposed consent decree, if entered by the federal court, will help ensure that Gloucester comes into compliance with the Clean Water Act.

The City of Gloucester has already provided a schedule to EPA and MassDEP for design and construction of secondary treatment. The city has proposed to complete design and bidding of the project by the end of 2024, complete construction of secondary treatment by the end of 2027, and achieve compliance with all permit limits by March 30, 2028.

The proposed consent decree is subject to a 30-day public comment period and court approval after it is published in the Federal Register. It is available on the Department of Justice website.