City of Memphis reaches settlement with Feds to clean up sewer systems

The City of Memphis in the state of Tennessee has reached a settlement agreement with the federal government over alleged clean water violations.

The settlement requires the city to upgrade its sewer systems to eliminate unauthorised overflows of untreated raw sewage. Works are estimated to cost $250m.

As part of the consent decree, filed in US District Court for the Western District of Tennessee in Memphis, a civil penalty of $1.29m, must also be paid.

The move follows a complaint filed by the federal government and the state of Tennessee in February 2010, which claimed the city endangered the health of residents and impaired local water quality with unauthorized raw sewage overflows.

The consent decree will require the city to implement a comprehensive fat, oil and grease programme to address the problem of grease buildup within the sewer lines.

A continuing sewer assessment and rehabilitation programme will also be required to ensure that the integrity of sewer infrastructure is appropriately maintained to prevent system failures, and will perform corrective measures in certain priority areas.

Memphis will make upgrades to its geographic information system and implement a color study to better delineate limits for the color of the city’s permitted discharges into the Mississippi River.

The proposed consent decree is subject to a 30-day public comment period and final court approval.

Image: The City of Memphis will implement an effluent color study for permitted discharges into the Mississippi River. Photo: Christine Karim.