Contact Michael Globetti, DNREC public affairs, 302-739-9902 

DNREC issues notice of penalty for wastewater permit violations to

the Town of Millsboro and City of Harrington exceeding $500,000

Both towns working with DNREC to improve wastewater systems

DOVER (Feb. 18, 2011) – Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control Secretary Collin O’Mara has issued Notices of Administrative Penalty Assessment and Secretary’s Orders to the Town of Millsboro and the City of Harrington for multiple violations of their National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permits.

The order for Millsboro totals a cash penalty of $376,303 including reimbursement to DNREC for expenses associated with the department’s investigation. Harrington’s penalty order for wastewater violations totals $137,724, which also includes reimbursement to DNREC for expenses in its investigation. In both cases, the municipalities will be allowed to apply the penalty towards projects that will benefit water quality in their respective communities. DNREC also continues to work with both municipalities to achieve compliance and improve their wastewater systems.

The Town of Millsboro maintains a wastewater treatment plant for the treatment of sewage entering the treatment plant via the town’s collection system. Millsboro has a permit that places certain restrictions and limitations on the amount and concentration of various pollutants that may be discharged to Tiger Branch (a tributary of the Indian River) from the town’s wastewater treatment plant.

Since last August, Millsboro has not had a violation of the town’s NPDES effluent permit limitations. Millsboro also continues to pursue alternatives to stream discharge of the town’s effluent and has communicated to DNREC that this continues to be one of its highest priorities. However, during 2009 through August 2010, Millsboro’s wastewater treatment plant effluent violated NPDES permit limits on numerous occasions. Millsboro also exceeded its monthly average permit limitations for a total of 18 months, while failing to meet several administrative requirements of the permit. The town has continued in violation of its compliance schedule, which required Millsboro to eliminate the discharge from its wastewater facility to Delaware waters by June 1, 2005. This requirement was added to gain the town’s compliance with the Inland Bays Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) regulations. 

Millsboro’s permit violations included noncompliance with maximum concentration and loading limits for total suspended solids, biochemical oxygen demand, total phosphorus (a nutrient), fecal coliform bacteria, and pH. Effluent violations from this facility added excess volumes of pollutants in the form of solids, organics, nutrients, and potentially harmful bacteria to the state’s surface waters, and contribute to the impairment of the state’s waterways. 

In 2009, Millsboro completed a full upgrade of the wastewater treatment plant to incorporate new and innovative membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology. The MBR treatment process started up in September 2009, but permit violations continued when the system failed soon after from filtration problems with the system’s tubular membranes. Millsboro, the town’s equipment supplier, and its engineering firm have continued to address the filtration issues.

The City of Harrington maintains a wastewater treatment plant for sewage from the town’s collection system. Harrington has a permit that places certain restrictions and limitations on the amount and concentration of various pollutants that may be discharged to Brown’s Branch (a tributary of the Murderkill River) from the city’s wastewater treatment plant. During 2009 and continuing through January 2011, Harrington’s wastewater treatment plant effluent exceeded its discharge permit limitations on numerous occasions. The city also failed to meet several administrative requirements of the permit.

Harrington’s permit includes limits on long-term average discharges and the city continues to be in violation of these loading requirements.

In March, 2010, DNREC was notified that lagoon levels at the treatment plant were dangerously high, and that unless pressure was relieved on the lagoon walls, they would be breached. As a result, part of the treatment process had to be bypassed, and approximately 3 million gallons of partially-treated wastewater was discharged to Brown’s Branch over four days. This action led to various violations of the permit. There also were visible signs of floating solids in Brown’s Branch, and state sampling of the branch found high levels of fecal enterococcus bacteria. 

Many of the violations reported by Harrington were a direct result of leaks in the collection system during major rainfall events that caused increased flow to the wastewater treatment plant, and diminished the plant’s capability to properly treat it prior to discharging to Brown’s Branch. Harrington has acknowledged serious collection systems leaks in correspondence with DNREC dating back to 2006, but has failed to adequately address them over that time. These leaks have contributed to many of the city’s reported permit limitation violations, including the major incident with the lagoon walls in March 2010. 

Effluent violations from this facility add unwanted pollutants in the form of solids, oxygen consuming compounds, nutrients, and unwanted bacteria to the surface waters of the State of Delaware, and contribute to the impairment of the state’s waterways.

The department recently was notified that Harrington has completed an inflow and infiltration engineering study pertaining to the collection system leaks, and is addressing these issues. Harrington has further communicated that the city is committed to a $6.8 million project to connect the city’s force main to the Kent County Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant and to eliminate the current wastewater treatment facility in Harrington.

Both Millsboro and Harrington have 30 days to pay the penalties or to request public hearings.

To view the penalty orders, go to: http://www.dnrec.delaware.gov/Info/Pages/SecOrders.aspx

Vol. 41, No. 51