THE PLAINS, Ohio — State environmental regulators say a wastewater treatment plant in Athens County has repeatedly exceeded legal limits for E. coli in its discharges and is now in “significant non-compliance” with its state permit.
In a Sept. 1 letter to The Plains Sewer District No. 1, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency’s Division of Surface Water said the plant violated its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit five times between May 1 and Aug. 1. The agency said the discharges from the plant, located on Jackson Drive in The Plains, exceeded allowable E. coli levels by more than 40% in at least two of those months.
The EPA ordered the district to evaluate the facility’s ultraviolet disinfection system and submit a technical report within 30 days detailing how it will come back into compliance. Regulators warned that failure to address the violations could result in administrative or civil penalties under state water pollution laws.
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