City Prepares to Fight New DEEP Requirements

In 2009, the City of Meriden was in the middle of a $46 million upgrade to its Water Pollution Control Facility that would, among other things, reduce the amount of nitrogen in the treated water it released into the Quinnipiac River as per Environmental Protection Agency regulations, when officials heard the state environmental agency was discussing limits on another substance: phosphorous.

Officials say they went to the state agency, the predecessor to today's Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, and asked what phosphorous limits would be so they could work those controls into their system. They were told .7 parts per million, according to City Manager Lawrence Kendzior, and invested another $1.5 million in design and technology that would reduce the amount of phosphorous to the given limit.

Two years later, the DEEP rolled out phosphorous limits for certain waterways and has told Meriden its limit is much lower than previously stated – .1 parts per million in 5 years. It's a change Utilities Director David Lohman said Tuesday could cost the city another $13 to $14 million – and the four cities that make up the Quinnipiac Basin more than $50 million together.

"We think that's unreasonable," Kendzior told city councilors who inquired about the issue during Tuesday's Finance Committee Meeting, "They gave us a certain limit – we designed to that limit."

Meriden, Kendzior announced at the meeting, along with nearby Southington,  Wallingford, and Cheshire , through direct contact with the DEEP and possible legislative or legal action.

Leaders of those cities have met with DEEP twice to discuss lightening phosphorous requirements, according to Kendzior. The three other cities have been issued a cap of .2 parts per million, double Meriden's allowance, which Kendzior said DEEP attributes to Meriden putting more water into the river than the other three.  met with Commissioner Daniel Esty in early March, and are waiting to hear from the department regarding potential changes.

But hopes sound slim. Cheshire Town Manager Michael Malone told the Record-Journal after the meeting that he didn't think officials were receptive:

“I don’t think they’re at all convinced,” Malone said Thursday. “The state is pretty firm on their phosphorus regulations.”

On Tuesday night, Kendzior told councilors that Meriden, along with Southington and Wallingford, has retained a lobbyist for help in changing some of the phosphorus regulations through legislation. The group is enlisting municipal water lobbyists Gara and Markowski of West Hartford.

Phosphorous is a natural element that aids in plant growth and is a normal part of a healthy river's ecosystem, according to the DEEP's website. But in high levels, phosphorous can cause adverse effects to a river, spurring the rampant growth of algae, making the water less clear, and according to the DEEP site, depleting oxygen and killing fish in extreme cases.

The portion of the Quinnipiac River that runs through Meriden is one of 21 segments of Connecticut bodies of water the DEEP has identified as part of an EPA mandate as "Not Meeting Water Quality Standards" for having an increased amount of phosphorus.

Kendzior says the science is still new on phosphorus, and that the Meriden's recent efforts to decrease the element in its wastewater are just being seen.

In the months since the new system has been in place in Meriden, phosphorous readings on outgoing water have been as low as .26 per million, Lohman said, with most well below .7 per million.

Kendzior would like to see the river resampled once the system is in full swing, something that takes more than a year.

"(We'd like DEEP to) revisit the issue five years down the road when we know the value of those intermediate steps, can do additional sampling, and allow that science to mature," Kendzior said. "We think that's reasonable, and we haven't moved the department on that."

For a more in-depth look at the phosphorous issue, see a Southington Patch article on the subject.