Faulty Blue Sky wastewater treatment plant shut down in the US

The Division of Water Quality (DWQ) in Lexington, Kentucky, US has taken the Blue Sky Wastewater Treatment Plant offline after a new sanitary sewer pump station was commissioned in the area.

The pump station became operational last week to redirect sewage from the Blue Sky plant to the West Hickman Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Construction on the new pump station commenced in 2014 and involved an investment of $2m.

The Blue Sky plant was a primary source of nutrient discharge and was polluting a tributary of Baughman Fork Creek. The tributary is listed as impaired for nutrients in the state’s impaired stream list.

In 2003, the emergency management for the Blue Sky Wastewater Treatment Plant had been taken over by the city, following a request from the State Department of Environmental Protection.

The plant had been reportedly violating the environmental standards for its operation and pollutant discharges at the time.

The Blue Sky project was initiated to comply with the Clean Water Act as part of settlement of the enforcement action under the Clean Water Act.

The local government of the city in Kentucky had put in efforts to improve the sanitary sewer system since 2010, which have resulted in reducing almost 51 million gallons of wastewater overflow in the city.