EPA Will Decide If Wastewater Plant Can Continue at Mercury Discharge Level

The Ohio EPA has scheduled a meeting for Sept. 1 to determine if the Avon Lake wastewater treatment plant can continue discharging levels at a higher than what is now the allowable rate.  

The city is asking to have its permit modified to allow it to discharge mercury at its current rate of 6.61 ppt (parts per trillion) instead of the EPA’s standard of 1.3 ppt, which was approved in the 1990s and now is being reviewed.

That rate was based on the wildlife standard in 1990s. 

EPA spokesperson Mike Nettles said a Sept. 1 public meeting will be held at the building’s board conference room  (201 Miller Road) to determine whether the EPA will allow the plant to discharge at its current rate. The information session and public hearing will begin at 6:30 p.m.

The request is not unusual. 

Earlier this month, a public hearing was help for Lorain’s Philip Q. Maiorana Wastewater Treatment Plant and in June, Lakewood asked for a similar permit to maintain its levels at slightly more than 11 ppt.

“They’re not alone,” Settles said. “We’ve granted over 70 mercury variance to dischargers throughout Ohio.” More than a dozen other permits are currently being reviewed.

The reason for the variances is economic. The ppt rates were set in the 1990s and the EPA says enforcing them now would not be economical. Amending a plant to meet the standards could cost up to $10 million, Settles said.

“To achieve the 1.3 ppt discharge limit, the city would have to install extremely costly technology that would result in substantial economic impacts,” a press release issued by the EPA said.

The EPA said a more effective way to lower the mercury impact is to reduce the amount of mercury being put into the wastewater system. In order to receive a variance from the mercury limit, the city would be required to identify the sources of mercury that go to the treatment plant and take steps to minimize the mercury releases from those sources.”

Avon Lake Municipal Utilities Chief Utilities Executive Todd Danielson agreed it was much more economical to prevent mercury from entering the sewer than it is to treat it at the plant.

"To save our customers money and achieve the same end goal of reducing the level of mercury entering the lake, we are requesting OEPA to delay full implementation of the mercury limit so that we may work with potential dischargers of mercury to reduce or prevent it from entering the sewer," Danielson said.

Settles said this amounts to educating the sources where mercury comes from. He identified dental offices, where a filling might fall down the drain, as a frequent source of mercury contamination.

 “In the USA, more than half (of mercury is) coming from dental offices from fillings going down drain,” Settles said. “We want to educate (those offices) on how to prevent that, including installing amalgam separators.”

Settles said the permit variance would not allow the center to emit more mercury.