Feds to Revere: Clean up your act

REVERE – Under federal government pressure, Revere officials agreed Thursday to spend an estimated $50 million to halt the illegal discharge of raw sewage into local streams, rivers and the sea.The discharges occur whenever the city’s system of sewer pipes and separate storm drains exceeds capacity, usually during heavy rain or snow melt.The city must abide by the terms of a consent decree filed in federal court by the U.S. Department of Justice on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the state Department of Environmental Protection and the state Attorney General’s Office.Revere will also pay $130,000 in civil penalties for past violations of the federal Clean Water Act, said EPA spokesman David Deegan. The city has 12 years to implement and complete the necessary modifications.The federal and state agencies complained that Revere’s sanitary sewers overflowed on numerous occasions, resulting in discharges of untreated wastewater from its collection system.At issue are so-called Sanitary Sewer Overflows (SSO), locations where raw sewage escapes into the environment before reaching the regional wastewater plant for treatment.Decades ago, most Massachusetts communities used the same pipes to channel sewage and storm water into the sea or rivers. When wastewater treatment plants were constructed, the pipes were separated into sewage and storm water because the latter requires no treatment.When storm water enters a sewer system, the volume can overload the treatment plant, forcing its operators to release raw sewage.Although Revere installed separate systems for processing sewage and handling storm water, violations occurred because of insufficient capacity.EPA spokesman David Deegan noted that Revere’s present wastewater collection system and storm drains were designed to keep sewage separate from storm water. “When properly designed, operated and maintained, the system would be capable of collecting and transporting waste to the treatment plant,” he said.Deegan said a municipality with separate storm drains can still have SSOs when illegal connections are made to the sewer system. The untreated sewage from these discharges can contaminate local waters, causing serious water quality problems. Raw sewage discharges can carry bacteria, viruses and other organisms that can cause life threatening ailments such as cholera, dysentery, infections, hepatitis and severe gastroenteritis.According to Deegan, SSOs can be caused by severe weather, improper operation and maintenance, blockages or vandalism.The court agreement is meant to reduce the flow of raw sewage into Boston Harbor and Massachusetts Bay, including Chelsea Creek, Sales Creek, Belle Isle Inlet and the Pines River. Revere must identify and remove sources of sewage that are currently flowing into the city’s storm drains.”Under this settlement, the city of Revere will undertake much needed upgrades to how they manage wastewater, resulting in significant improvements to the waters directly impacted, and to the Mystic River Watershed,” said Curt Spalding, regional administrator for EPA New England. “This will mean a cleaner and healthier environment for the city’s people and those living downstream of Revere.”Lynn has been methodically eliminating SSOs for two decades while Saugus enters the third of a 10-year effort to do likewise. Both communities faced consent decrees before the work began.