WWTA To Pay EPA Fines, Upgrade Sewer System

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) – Sewer customers in portions of Hamilton County will likely notice an increase in their sewer bills in the coming years.

The executive director of the Hamilton County Water and Wastewater Transmission Authority (WWTA), Michael Patrick, explained why.

Patrick said, “Approximately 8 years ago, the WWTA began negotiating with the EPA for a structured settlement for violations of the Clean Water Act.”

Patrick has been the executive director for just over four years.

Prior to his arrival, the EPA and State of Tennessee found violations at various locations around Hamilton County including at the Signal Mountain Wastewater Treatment Plant on Suck Creek Road.

These violations according to the EPA include unauthorized overflow of raw sewage into local waterways.

To be in compliance moving forward with EPA and TDEC standards, the WWTA has agreed to a consent decree, which is a plan to upgrade their sewer system.

Patrick said, “We will do what’s called security in place pipelining… There’ll be some dig and replace, we’ll have to do some manhole rehab and we’ll have to make some extensive upgrades at the Signal Mountain treatment plant.”

This will come with a hefty price tag.

The WWTA has to pay nearly $600,000 in fines to the EPA and the State.

Additionally, the plan has a price tag of $250 million dollars, but that may go up too.

Patrick said, “The term of the consent decree is 20 years. Will it be more than 250 million dollars? Very likely. 20 years from now, it is very hard to predict what the costs will be for rehab. Ratepayers have been feeling and will feel this burden because we don’t repair pipes without money from our ratepayers, that’s just part of our situation.”

The costs associated with this affect over 30 thousand customers in Hamilton County.

This does not affect customers in the city limits of Chattanooga.