A new public hearing date has been set regarding a local nursing home’s wastewater treatment plant–this time for May.
Madison County residents have voiced concerns about the Aroda-based Mountain View Nursing Home’s sewage situation. The facility is currently undergoing a renewal of its Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit. The permit is required for any treatment facility that discharges into a public body of water or has an outfall that reaches a public body of water. The permit is issued by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).
As part of the renewal process, DEQ held a public comment period from Oct. 30 through Dec. 1. During that time, 30 comments were received with all commenters requesting a public hearing. Radiant resident James Alexander said a petition containing more than 70 signatures was also submitted.
With the threshold met, DEQ was scheduled to host a public hearing Monday, March 2. Due to inclement weather, it was postponed to March 16 which was postponed again due to the threat of severe weather. Officials recently announced the hearing will now be held May 27, 6:30-8:30 p.m. at 414 N. Main Street, Madison.
The public comment period has been extended through June 11 at 11:59 p.m. Written comments can be submitted to Ben Cunningham, DEQ-Central Office, 1111 East Main Street, Suite 1400, Richmond, VA 23219 or Benjamin.Cunningham@deq.virginia.gov Submittals must include the names, mailing addresses or email addresses of the commenter and of all persons represented by the commenter.
Last week, Alexander, along with Evans Oakerson, filed a petition with the State Water Control Board for rulemaking. The petition asserts that “regulatory amendments are necessary to address significant gaps in existing regulations regarding discharges into dry ditch or intermittent streams from wastewater facilities discharging 1,000 gallons or more each day.” The amendments are needed following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency. That case ended the EPA’s jurisdiction over intermittent streams, ephemeral streams or dry ditches. Alexander said the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit issued by the EPA was based on the Clean Water Act (CWA) and served as the authority for DEQ’s VPDES permits.
“The removal of CWA jurisdiction over intermittent streams, ephemeral streams or dry ditch situations means that DEQ can no longer rely on provisions of the Clean Water Act or the EPA to grant permits or enforce sewage discharges in these settings,” Alexander and Oakerson wrote.
The Mountain View permit involves an intermittent stream.
Alexander and Oakerson proposed that DEQ adopt regulations to address the situations, suggesting a modification of the regulations that DEQ uses for permits involving discharges of more than 1,000 gallons. These include requiring Reliability Class I by using a passive, backup biological treatment system; a generator with an automatic transfer switch; a 24-hour holding tank for raw wastewater treatment with telemetry system to immediately notify the operator of system failures and any alternative means that limits the discharge of noncompliant effluent to a maximum of two hours. The effluent would be continually disinfected by providing electronic or mechanical means of monitoring the process such that failure would be corrected within 12 hours.
The petition will be announced in the Virginia Register of Regulations in April with a public comment period scheduled for April 20 – May 11. The State Water Control Board will then consider the petition at a future meeting.
